More Than A Feeling
by CanisLupusHorribilis
Summary: Everybody said they were joined at the hip. But only as friends. ...Right? High school story. Leon/Ada
1. BFFs

More Than A Feeling

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. From Resident Evil to iPods to Mudvayne and Boston, I own nothing.

A/N: Ah, yes, a high school story. I've wanted to do one of these since I first joined the site but only recently did I come up with a really good idea for one. The characters will be OOC. But this is high school. Not the games. Please understand that I think they'd be completely different people in high school. Pairings will include, but are not limited to, Leon/Ada, Carlos/Jill, eventual Chris/Jill, Rebecca/Billy, and Claire/Steve.

"Hey, wait up!"

The young Eurasian girl with short raven hair slowed down and turned to face the one who'd called to her. He was a tall blond with bright blue eyes and he looked quite out of breath. He was dressed in a blank blue T-shirt, loose navy blue jeans, and black Nikes. She was dressed in a crimson turtle neck sweater with black jeans and black boots. They both wore matching black backpacks that looked a little worn out.

"You know, if you got up a little earlier, you wouldn't have to run over here," the girl teased her friend, folding her arms over her chest and wearing a smirk.

"I stay up later than you, Ada" the boy reminded, smirking as well. Ada rolled her eyes and she turned away again, continuing to the bus stop. She didn't like running late, especially with how much she knew that running late bothered the bus driver. Leon followed her.

"Right. Talking to Elza, Leon? Or doing the summer assignments?" she asked, throwing him a look over her shoulder. Leon frowned faintly, which startled her even though she hid her reaction.

"Both, actually. She needed help on the math assignment last night so I helped her. You did the same for me," he reminded. She shrugged again, trying to quench the bitter retort that had been building. She didn't want to be compared to Elza Walker. The girl was rather annoying. At least she wasn't as bad as Leon's girlfriend from their sophomore year.

"Ada, Leon!" somebody called. They stopped walking, allowing Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira time to catch up. "God, you guys walk too fast," Jill panted, holding a hand to her heart and letting her backpack fall to the ground uselessly. Carlos looked ready to keel over. He didn't even have a backpack, which was nothing new. According to the Hispanic boy, he didn't like backpacks. Too cumbersome, according to him.

"We're late for the bus thanks to this guy over here," Ada remarked, flicking a hand at her friend. Leon shot her a cold look to which she just smiled back at. He just shook his head at her quietly.

"Talking to la chica last night?" Carlos asked, finally able to breathe.

"You need to get out more," Leon remarked calmly, avoiding the question. Ada elbowed him in the ribs in response and Leon yelped out in shock and pain. He looked at her and they held each other's eyes for several minutes until he sighed and looked away. She always won their staring contests. "Yes, okay? I was helping her with math."

"I'll never understand how she got into calculus in the first place," Jill pointed out. The raven haired teen lifted her arm and pushed her sweater sleeve away to see the white face of the old watch she always wore on her left wrist. It was an old birthday gift from Leon.

"Guys, we're going to miss the bus," Ada snapped suddenly.

---

"Made it!" cried Carlos as they ran to the bus stop. The big, yellow and black bus pulled up right as the tan skinned boy trotted up to it and leaned against the sign. The other two kids that rode the bus looked at Carlos coldly.

Chris Redfield and Forest Speyer. Two kids of the same kind. Bullies, jocks, whatever you wanted to call them, they were jackasses through and through. Jill used to date Chris until he moved away. His mother and father had been killed in an accident and he, along with his younger sister, had moved to a nearby school so they could live with their only immediate family; their aunt and uncle. They came back Chris' junior year and the dark haired boy was nothing like the sweet, playful kid Jill had known. He'd changed because of his move and his parents' death. She'd spent many a day crying to Leon, Ada, and Carlos until Carlos had finally convinced her to move on-with him.

Needless to say, Chris loathed Carlos for taking his girlfriend and because he loathed Carlos, he loathed everyone who was Carlos' friend. There were a lot of people who were Carlos' friends. But Chris had a habit of picking on two of the Hispanic's closest friends; Leon and Ada.

"Oh look who decided to show up," Forest snorted. Ada looked at Leon who shrugged. Forest was definitely not the brains behind the insults.

"Just get on the damned bus, you two," Jill snapped. Her short brunette hair was messy from running to the bus and she looked angry enough. Very few people were willing to tempt Jill's anger. She and Ada had a history of being violent when they needed to be.

The two boys clambered onto the bus, followed by Carlos, then Jill, and finally Ada and Leon. The last two sat in the second seat behind the bus driver, their backpacks dropped to the floor of the bus, and Leon leaned up against the glass. Ada looked a lot more proper than her blond comrade, sitting upright with her hands in her lap. That wouldn't last long.

"What'd you get?" Ada asked as the bus started away from the bus stop, looking over at her friend as he fumbled with his iPod.

"Huh?" he asked, looking up at her.

"You called me last night and started to tell me you bought some music but your lady love called and interrupted us," she reminded, running a hand through her short raven hair and shifting to become comfortable.

"Oh! Right. Um, I bought the new Mudvayne album. It's pretty good," he said, nodding faintly as if he was convincing himself. He unraveled the headphones and handed her one, to which she instantly placed in her ear, having to move a little closer to her friend so they didn't tug the wire too much.

As the music started to play, Ada found herself examining the teen sitting next to her. They'd known each other for fourteen years now. They'd met at an old swing set when they were mere children. She had been the 'too shy to move' girl and he'd been the 'playful young boy trying to make a friend.' So, after he'd broken through her defensive shyness, they'd promised to meet at the swing set every day. Then, they'd found each other at school. After that, they were inseparable. They were complete opposites, Leon was the playful boy who everybody liked and Ada was the shy girl who guys thought was hot but would never speak to because of how she dressed. People still swore they were joined at the hip by an invisible rope.

Leon was there for Ada every time something happened to her, like the unmentionable incident a year ago. Ada was there for Leon every time he needed comfort after he was dumped or he dumped somebody. Many people mumbled things about them. That they were dating, had been dating, dated. Nope. Never. She viewed Leon as her brother. Nothing more.

Except…

"Ada?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts by her friend's concerned voice. She looked at Leon, realizing she'd been staring at his iPod really. He gave her a confused, and slightly worried, look.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking… A.P. Government, you know? Scary thought there," she lied easily. He smirked.

"I'm more worried about the Physics, honestly," he said.

"As long as we have a teacher like last year, we'll be fine," Ada replied.

"I don't know," said a new voice. Joseph Frost stuck his head over the seat to talk to the duo. "I've heard lots of nasty rumors about A.P. Physics," he stated.

"I have too but I doubt they're true," Rebecca Chambers disagreed.

"You're a freakin' science nut! No shit you'd think it's easy if we think it's difficult," Joseph scoffed. Ada shook her head at Leon who was silently shaking with laughter.

"I'm not a physics nut! I'm into chemistry! I could have just as much problems in Physics as you do!" the young Rebecca snapped back.

"Quiet back there!" the bus driver, Ramon Salazar, barked. Leon shot Ada a pleading look and she shook her head violently. Every year, there was a competition between the kids on the bus to see who could make Salazar snap and have a fit first. Leon was holding the record since freshmen year.

"No, Leon, we agreed. No more! We're seniors," Ada reminded.

"Oh, come on!" Joseph cried. "It's his job! He's holding a record! Only one other kid was able to do this and that guy disappeared!"

"And that's supposed to make Leon want to piss him off?" timid Brad Vickers asked softly.

"Shut it!" Joseph snapped. Leon looked at Ada, who shot him a pleading look, and he just sat back silently. Ada mouthed thanks to him. He just smiled in return.

---

Ada and Leon climbed off the bus, still listening to Mudvayne, and looked around at the familiar school. Raccoon City High School was a decent school. It wasn't huge, Spencer's Charter School was much bigger, but it wasn't small. The duo had spent three, going on four, years of their lives at the school and they pretty much knew it by heart, including all the best places to hide so they didn't get caught by hall monitors.

"Leon!" Carlos cried, leaping after his friend. "You have to let me copy the English assignment, please?! Amigo, I'm begging you."

Leon looked at Ada but she just smiled at him playfully. He sighed and gave her the other headphone before taking off his black backpack and opening it up. As he searched for the assignment, Ada went through his music on the iPod.

"Muchos gracias, amigo," Carlos breathed before shuffling away after Jill. Ada looked at Leon who gave his friend a dirty look and then turned to her.

"Can I have my iPod back before you get it taken away again?" he asked, holding out his hand. She grinned and placed the small object in the palm of his hand.

"One time, Leon! One time!" she laughed, remembering the year before when she'd dropped his iPod and their trigonometry teacher had grabbed it before she could. Luckily, the small thing had been in a protective case and no damage had befallen it.

"One time too many," he said with a sigh, acting disappointed in her.

She grinned and together they started off to begin their final year of high school, side-by-side like always.


	2. Crazy Boy

More Than A Feeling

Leon and Ada had a yearly habit of sitting in the very back two seats of their class. Since Ada's last name was Wong, she was naturally in the back but when Leon was separated from her, they made up an elaborate lie about how Ada was too near sighted to see the board and because her family couldn't afford glasses, Leon was to sit next to her. So far, so good.

They shared four classes out of their six and lunch. Their first class was calculus. No fun for either Leon or Ada. But they didn't really mind. They had it together and to them, that's all that mattered.

"Hey," Chris said as everybody got settled into their seats. Ada lifted her eyes to meet Chris' in shock. He'd never once spoken to her or Leon. She noticed the blond look over in confusion. "You know… I don't like you guys because of the whole 'Jill and Carlos' thing…but I don't hate you by any means… You know that, right?" he asked, looking hopeful. Ada nodded slowly. "Well… I…um…just thought you ought to know… Nicholai got released."

Ada struggled to stop herself from gasping but she heard Leon stand up. She looked to him, seeing the confusion gone and replaced by fury unmatched by any.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Leon snarled. "They wouldn't release that psychopath-"

"His parents got him out," Chris explained steadily. "Look… Nobody deserves what you got, Ada. I just thought you'd like to know… I found out the hard way."

"He saw you?" Ada asked, remembering Chris rushing to her rescue almost as quickly as Carlos.

"We ran into each other on the way to class. Thank God he doesn't have our classes, huh?" the dark haired boy laughed weakly. Ada nodded faintly and heard Leon retake his seat.

She felt Leon's hand on her shoulder, comforting and warm, but she didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say.

---

_Ada, to say the least, was rather excited. She was excited because she and her boyfriend, first boyfriend ever, were going on an actual date after school. She knew he didn't like doing that kind of thing, which she couldn't help compare to Leon, who was more then willing to go to the movies or whatever else whenever she asked. But her boyfriend had stepped it up a notch. _

_The problem was, she knew he was expecting her to do the same. She wasn't the type of girl to just make out in the hallway with her boyfriend. She didn't even let him kiss her on the mouth yet. And she knew that pissed him off. She wouldn't explain that it was because she was worried about a certain _someone _spotting them kissing more than aynthign else. And yet…she didn't understand why. _

_Sure, Leon was her 'big brother' but he didn't really have a say in who she did and didn't kiss. But she couldn't bring herself to kiss her boyfriend because of Leon. She told herself that it was fear of Leon going into big brother mode. But she knew it was something else._

_"Sorry I'm late Ada… Mr. Wesker wouldn't let me out of class," Nicholai apologized, sounding out of breath. It was the end of the day, the last day of the semester. They'd be going on winter break soon. Ada was looking forward to the holidays._

_"Maybe if you didn't him such a hard time…" Ada started coolly. She spotted Carlos down at the other end of the hall, tossing a football to Leon. She found herself watching as he caught it with a grace he didn't really have. He wasn't a football player. But he sure could pass off as one._

_Unfortunately… Nicholai caught her stare. He looked down and she heard his leather gloves complain as he clenched his fists. _

_"What is with you?" he asked finally. Ada looked at him, startled by the fury in the Russian boy's voice. He was capable of speaking perfect English but when he got mad, it was obvious he was from a foreign country._

_"What are you talking about?" she asked. She wasn't afraid of him. She knew several styles of martial arts and she'd seen enough fights to know how to react. But something…had always been…off about Nicholai. Like he was that tiger just waiting, acting like he was asleep._

_"I see the way you look at him. No wonder people think you two are dating behind everybody's backs. Why don't you just get together already?" he snapped._

_"We're friends," Ada replied. "Nothing more."_

_"Then why do you look at him like he's your boyfriend?" Nicholai growled. She noticed how low he was keeping his voice. Very few teens were still roaming the halls. In fact, Leon and Carlos were probably already gone._

_Ada was about to retort when he slapped her. More like, half slapped half punched her but same thing. She was a headstrong young woman. She'd taken Leon down many a time in mock fights. But she hadn't expected to be hit like that. She remembered hearing long ago that girl aren't supposed to be hit. But the thing was, Nicholai wasn't finished. _

_He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her closer. Until something slammed into him. Ada grabbed the railing she'd been leaning against and watched as Nicholai and Leon tried to kill each other. Carlos ran up to Ada, stammering out questions she couldn't understand. She was fixated on the fight. Leon had the upper hand, the element of surprise on his side. But Nicholai was big. Really big. Something she recognized but she couldn't say what because she felt dizzy from the slap._

_He pushed Leon off and stood to face Ada again. But the raven haired girl wasn't about to get hit again. When he started for her, she kicked him. In the face. It was half an axe kick, one of her favorites. But it did its job. She heard the sound of cartilage crumpling and Leon was there again. But this time, so was Carlos. And then Chris. _

_By the time the police had arrived, Nicholai was fighting three males, two that were half his bulk and one that was almost equal. He was outmatched, outnumbered, outfought. The police got there right as the Russian began to back off from his attack. They grabbed him, searched him, and placed him in cuffs. _

_A tall officer with black hair walked to Ada, speaking to her softly. _

_"Ma'am? Are you going to be okay? Do you want to go to the hospital?" he asked. She shook her head. "You don't want to go to the hospital?" _

_"That's what she's saying, hombre," Carlos said. _

_"We'll take care of her," Chris promised. _

_Leon walked to Ada, not saying anything. But she stepped willingly into the familiar embrace that he offered her. She buried her face into his shirt and listened as the cop explained that the three boys wouldn't be in trouble and that Nicholai was going to be in Juvie for a long, long time._

---

"Ada?" Leon asked, gently laying his hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head from her arms, realizing she'd fallen asleep. "Come on, calculus is over."

"I fell asleep?" she asked, amazed. "When was the last time I did that?"

"Never," Leon laughed, standing up and tugging his backpack on. She smiled and followed suit. After their backpacks were in place, they started for the door.

Nicholai was out…. Great. As if she didn't already have enough things to worry about that year. Now she had her first, and last, boyfriend out and probably looking for revenge. She wasn't so much worried for herself. She had her martial arts during school and her Shar Pei at home to protect her. She was more worried about Leon.

After Nicholai's attack on her, she'd isolated herself from the world. Only her grandmother and Leon had been able to speak to her and go near her. And Leon had been there for her every day. Her parents got the school to give her a month off from classes so Leon brought her homework and did it with her. The next day, he'd turn it in for her. He also took two sets of notes; one for him and one for her.

His girlfriend had broken up with him and yet he'd kept being Ada's friend, he kept doing everything he could for her. In fact, Leon had become so protective of her Carlos had once asked whether Leon was her friend or her husband. The blond boy had responded by punching him in the shoulder. A little too hard.

But Ada worried that Leon had no way of defending himself if Nicholai came after him. She couldn't imagine what the Russian boy was willing to do to her best friend. He was well known for carrying weapons when he wasn't supposed to. His 'bad boy' attitude had been the very thing that had made Ada accept him asking her out that year.

"Ada, you're spacing out again. I doubt that's going to help you through the day," Leon remarked from her side. She looked over at him, her emerald eyes meeting his cerulean ones, and a smile formed on her lips.

"I don't know. You remember how we slept through our computer class freshmen year and we still got A's?" she reminded. Leon rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I meant. Anyway… You've got piano next, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Damn… I've got P.E.… I'll see you in third period, Ada," he said, starting off for the gym on the far end of the school. She nodded and waved to him, while walking to the piano room.

A/N: Boring, I know. Just kinda trying to explain some things and whatnot.


	3. Boring First Day

More Than A Feeling

Ada had taken piano every year in high school. Playing the piano had always been her favorite thing to do, especially when she was feeling stressed. Before high school, she and Leon mock played on her keyboard at home. Then, in high school, she spent her days practicing on a baby grand piano.

Even though most first days were filled when explanations of the rules for the class, the teacher knew Ada well enough to let her go into the soundproof practice rooms and mess around. After all, Mr. Duvall was her next door neighbor.

She found herself playing a familiar song, one of her personal favorites. The Blue Danube Waltz. She and Leon played it together as children and they loved showing off to their parents at what they could play. Leon had always played the right hand and worked the pedal while Ada played the left hand.

She remembered the first time they'd played it too, when they were six years old. It was completely accidental. He'd come over after school to hang out with her and he'd seen her keyboard. Well, they'd messed around on it, pressing random keys and making odd noises. Then, she'd pressed the right combination for the left side of the song. Leon tried the right and eventually got the hang of that too. Soon, their parents were smiling over them as they played the Waltz.

Ada sighed, thinking about the days in which they could almost read each other's mind. That day when they'd met in the park had been amazing in it's own way. The blond boy hadn't really tried to force her to speak to him, more like he'd been speaking to himself about how his parents were thinking about getting a divorce, which they hadn't known what a divorce was at that age, and she'd inserted herself into his conversation.

She remembered what Carlos said about them. About Leon acting more like a husband than a friend. It was…true. And Ada, nor Leon, could deny it. They did act more like spouses than just friends. But she wouldn't say that out loud. They'd silently agreed years ago that they would never be boyfriend/girlfriend. They didn't want to take the chance that they dated, broke up, and hated each other for life. They just wouldn't take that chance.

But she knew that Carlos wasn't the only one who thought that. Nicholai had, Chris did, Jill did, and even Ada's parents believed she and Leon were together in more than just friendship. And it drove them nuts. In fact, the only person who didn't want Leon and Ada to 'get together' was Leon's mom. But that's because his mom absolutely hated Ada. For no reason, really.

Her fingers moved on their own across the keyboard, playing Minuet in G before switching to Fur Elise. Ada closed her eyes and continued playing songs that she knew by heart, for some reason picturing Leon as she played.

---

Leon walked with Carlos to the field, where their P.E. coach was waiting for the boys to come out of the locker room. They wouldn't be doing anything, since half of the guys didn't even have uniforms yet. But the coach hated being inside so he made the class go outside instead.

Leon had P.E. with Carlos, Chris, and two other guys he knew and considered friends; Bruce McGivern and Ark Thompson. For once, Leon's friends outnumbered Chris'. Which somewhat gave him comfort. Usually, he and Carlos were ganged up on by Chris' group.

"Okay guys, usually we have a pretty relaxed class. Well, it's beginning to piss off the board. So, I'm going to actually have to enforce some rules on you guys," their coach, Coach Vladimir, said. He had a thick Russian accent and was well known for being somewhat a psychopath. But nobody believed those rumors. After all, Nicholai had been the only true psychopath of Raccoon High School. "Another thing. We have somebody joining the class until he can get his schedule fixed. I'm certain most of you know him."

Somebody walked out of the locker room and everybody mumbled in disbelief and shock. Leon felt his fists clench at his sides and felt Carlos shift uneasily beside him. Bruce and Ark looked ready to kill and even Chris tensed up uneasily.

It was Nicholai.

---

Ada loved English. It was her favorite class for some reason. She thought maybe it was because she always got A's no matter what she did. Leon, and her teachers, thought she should become a writer of some sort but Ada just laughed and shook her head. Too boring. Where was the excitement of sitting at a desk and writing stories?

Anyway, her English class was filled with familiar faces. All of the seniors in her class were people she recognized instantly. But there was one face missing. The one she knew by heart.

Leon wasn't in class and the minute bell was about to ring.

She looked around when a hand clasped her shoulder. She spun around, half prepared to attack, when she realized it was an out of breath Carlos. He breathed heavily before he straightened up to talk to her.

"Leon's going to be late. He…uh…had to talk to the P.E. coach about something," Carlos explained.

"What about?" Ada asked, taking her seat. Carlos sat in the seat in front of her.

"Nothing… I'm not supposed to tell you," the Hispanic boy said.

"Great job," a familiar voice scoffed. Ada turned in her seat to see Leon walk in right as the bell rang.

"So close," Ada teased him. He grinned and sat next to her. Leon had never once been late. Sure, he'd been absent plenty of times. But never once had he been tardy. He was either absent or in class. That's how he worked. But Ada told him that one day he would be late. She was just playing, of course, but that didn't mean she couldn't act like she didn't mean it.

"You're just waiting aren't you? What kind of a friend are you?" he laughed. The teacher shushed the class suddenly, making it impossible for Ada to ask Leon why he'd stayed behind to talk to his P.E. coach.

"Okay class, I'm certain you've heard of me," the teacher said. He was a blond man in a fancy suit. "I'm recognized as one of the school's best after all." Everybody looked at one another in confusion. He didn't look familiar whatsoever. And the teacher was apparently beginning to realize nobody recognized him. "Okay… Um… My name is Mr. Goldman."

Several students mumbled something under their breaths but Ark bolted out of his seat, looking terrified. As soon as Mr. Goldman's eyes landed on Ark, fury filled his face and he looked about ready to attack.

"Oh God," Chris grumbled. Forest and Chris' other friend Barry Burton nodded silently.

"I told them I wouldn't teach you!" Goldman shouted angrily. The class turned its eyes to Ark, confusion more than obvious.

"I..I didn't get the choice!" the dark haired boy responded. "They said I had to take A.P. English to get into the college I wanted to go to!"

"Out of my class!" Goldman roared angrily and pointed one finger at the door.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Leon snapped, standing up for his friend. Always the hero.

"Yeah, you can't refuse to teach somebody," Ada agreed. "That's like saying I refuse to learn from you because your hair is freaking me out."

Several snorts of laughter escaped some kids, who instantly covered their mouths with their hands. Goldman's face paled considerably.

"What's wrong with my hair?" the man asked, his eyes starting to fill up with tears.. Ada looked to Leon for help, who was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"It's too…yellow," he explained for her, still struggling to suppress the laughter. Ada was beginning to laugh softly. "It's freaking me out too."

Carlos and Jill agreed that it was beginning to worry them. Chris said he wanted to poke it with a stick. Even Albert Wesker, who was typically too high and mighty for fun and games, voiced that he was worried they would be eaten by the man's hair. Which was absolutely normal looking. In fact, Albert had no room to talk, seeing as his hair was almost s the same as Goldman's.

To the class's amazement, Goldman burst into tears and fled from the room. Ark, whose face was returning to its not so pale color, started laughing. The class started to join in. All except Rebecca, who hadn't joined in on the fun and made fun of the teacher. She stood and followed Goldman to wherever he'd run off to.

"Somebody always has to ruin it," Chris said bitterly. Jill gave him a dirty look but she remained silent.

---

The rest of the day had been increasingly boring. So far, it was the worst first day Ada had ever had. Of course, it was to be expected. The teachers had spent the day going over rules and rules and more rules.

After English, Ada and Leon had gone to lunch together but Ada had ended up spending it alone. It turned out Elza had the same lunch as them and she wanted to spend it with Leon. So, Ada had eaten under a huge oak tree and gone to her next class, A.P. Government. Leon was in there, waiting for her, with Elza clinging to him. Ada had been quite upset at that sight, though she didn't know why.

After history, they had Physics together and then they went their separate ways; Leon to autoshop and Ada to German.

The day had ended with Ada and Leon joining again on the bus ride home, splitting ways with Carlos and Jill, and then climbing off and walking home together.

"So, how did your day go?" Ada asked Leon. He glanced down at her as they neared her house.

"You would know. You spent half of it with me," he reminded.

"Yeah, but not lunch, second period, or seventh period," she remarked.

"Same ole, same ole. You know, teacher going over rules, nearly getting killed, all that fun stuff," he said, shrugging. Ada was somewhat glad he didn't say anything about his lunch with Elza.

"Yeah, me too… Well, see you tomorrow Leon. Try to get to bed a little earlier this time, yeah?" she teased with a smile. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up before starting off for his house.

She watched him walk off before walking to her door. Ada had grabbed the door handle before she realized she hadn't ever asked what Leon had spoken to his coach about.

A/N: So, I know it probably seems like I rushed through the classes but first days are really boring… I mean, all they ever really do is go over rules. So, just as a warning, the next chapter will take place about a month after this chapter.


	4. Of Dogs and Mice

More Than A Feeling

"So, you heard what happened to Chris today?" Ada asked over her phone to her partner in crime. She could imagine the blond boy shrugging with half a smile on his face as he waited patiently for her to tell him. "He got into a fight with Carlos, which I'm certain you know of. Well, turns out Mr. Wesker caught them fighting, right? And you know how his son really hates Chris?"

"He got Chris in trouble?" Leon laughed.

"Yeah. Albert told his dad that Chris started the fight for no reason. Which, he really did but Albert wasn't even there to see it happen. I guess Jill was the subject again. You really need to set those two straight, Leon," Ada continued, laying down on her bed. Her mouse clambered over her stomach as soon as he could. "Go away Mörder," she hissed.

"Your mouse again?" Leon asked. She nodded and he continued, using the same method she had earlier. They just knew each other that well. "I'll try Ada. But you know how thick headed both Carlos and Chris are. Maybe Jill can break up with Carlos and get with somebody else just to get them both to agree on something."

"That Jill is evil?" she laughed, running her index finger over the small mammal's ebony fur.

"Exactly," he said. She heard the bark of his bloodhound Buddy and he grumbled something at the dog in return.

"You know, she's still my friend," she reminded pleasantly, reaching over and grabbing her PSP. She needed something to do while Leon struggled with his dog.

"Sorry. Buddy decided to… Are you playing that damned PSP again?" he asked.

"Why in the world would I be doing that?" she laughed as Mörder curled up on her stomach. "I love listening to you and Buddy argue."

"At least I have a pet. I don't know what the hell Mörder is," Leon said, pulling off a pretty good German accent for the name.

"Are you sure your family doesn't have any German in it, Leon?" Ada teased, pressing several buttons on the PSP so her character would shoot the zombies running around.

"I'm sure. I'm not a Nazi, Ada," he remarked smoothly.

"And I am? Cause, you know, I look like an Aryan and everything," she laughed.

"Hey, you're the one who told me that not all Nazis were Aryan," he said. She rolled her eyes and laughed faintly before setting the PSP down and returning to petting her mouse.

"True but they didn't like Chinese people. Especially not women," she explained. "What about the Japanese? What makes them so special?" Leon asked. She heard the sound of pages being turned and realized he was doing his Calculus.

"Who knows," Ada sighed. "Well, um…I have to go. Dinner and all."

"You guys don't usually eat this early," he pointed out. "But if you must. We can't have you starve to death, after all."

Without saying good-bye, as was their custom, they hung up and Ada relaxed her body, letting her cell phone slip from her fingers. It landed on her carpet with a soft thunk and Mörder twitched in his sleep.

"Ada?" a soft voice asked. Ada turned her head and watched as the door opened and in stepped her grandmother.

Both of her grandparents lived with Ada and her mother and father. But her grandfather refused to have anything to do with the Eurasian girl. In fact, he hadn't spoken to her since she was a child. Ada's grandmother, on the other hand, absolutely adored her granddaughter.

"I heard something and I thought I might as well check to make sure it wasn't your mouse," her grandmother continued.

"Sorry Gran," Ada replied. "I dropped my phone." Mörder raced from Ada's stomach to his cage that sat on the desk next to Ada's pillow.

"Hm, wouldn't have to do with your husband would it?" her grandmother teased. Ada rolled her eyes and turned away again, looking out of her window and into the tree where she and Leon's tree house rested.

"He had to do homework and when we hung up I dropped the phone on accident," Ada lied.

She could hear the cynicism as her grandmother mumbled, "Right…"

---

Buddy had a habit of trying to eat Leon's pencil while he wrote. Like at that very moment, the big bloodhound shoved his head under Leon's arm and tried to grab the blue mechanical pencil from Leon's fingers. But the blond teen pushed the floppy faced dog away and grumbled unintelligibly at him.

Leon was usually done by homework within ten minutes of starting it. But Ada's lie was bothering him. She'd never lied to him. So why would she now?

_Or, you know, she could simply be telling the truth. You know her dad has weird hours sometimes…_

He sighed and closed his Calculus book. He would help Elza when she called him later for help. Buddy hopped up onto Leon's bed happily and plopped down into the teen's lap with a grunt.

"Leon! Have you seen Petey?!" his sister cried at him. He frowned.

"If I had seen your bug wouldn't I have said something?" he replied. She stormed into his room, throwing the door into the wall. She looked furious. Then again, she hated it when her tarantula Peter was called a bug.

"He is not a bug! He is an arachnid! I don't go around calling Buddy a mutt, do I?!" she snapped angrily.

"Leslie… Buddy is a mutt. He's just mostly bloodhound so that's why he looks the way he does," Leon bluntly replied. Leslie's eyes burned angrily before she stomped off to find her bug.

Buddy woofed angrily after her and Leon thought that if the dog was complaining about his sister, then he agreed completely. His sister and brother hadn't gotten normal, everyday pets. No, they'd had to be special and ask their mother to buy them a tarantula for Leslie and a boa constrictor for John. And the snake adored Leon. The blond boy often woke up to see the snake laying on the foot of his bed with Buddy snarling at it. And then there was his young sister. Since she'd asked for a pet after their parents had gotten a divorce, she'd gotten two. A grumpy old grey feline and a parrot that Leon wanted to kick out of a window. Even the animal loving Ada agreed that the parrot was annoying.

Especially when it started singing about Leon and Ada sitting in a tree.

---

"Did you bring my iPod?" was the first thing Leon asked Ada the next morning. She sighed and stuck her hand into her pocket, playfully feigning that she couldn't find it until Leon gave her a look that told her to just hand it over. She smiled and handed the grey device to the man.

"Is that all you care about?" she asked, starting for the bus stop.

"No. But I don't know if I can trust you with it anymore, after what happened last year," Leon replied.

"It's been a month since school started. I haven't made the same mistake since then and yet you don't trust me?" she laughed, punching him playfully.

"Now you're abusing me?" he mock cried. "I don't know if I can stand being near you any longer. I'm afraid, this is where we must part ways." He stopped walking and Ada rolled her eyes. She would've laughed had she not heard a familiar voice call out Leon's name.

"Leon! Wait up!" Elza cried, running over. Ada wanted to ask how she was wearing short shorts and a tank top in the cold, and rainy, October weather. It had, after all, been raining since yesterday and the sky was permanently shrouded in grey. "Hey, I thought I'd take the bus for once, huh? Gas prices and all that."

Leon smiled and Ada started for the bus, feeling unnecessary like she always did around Leon's girlfriends. Jill and Carlos were at the stop by the time she got there.

"Where's-?" Carlos started. But Jill cut him off by pointing at Leon and Elza, walking hand-in-hand. Elza was babbling on about something and Leon barely looked interested.

"Right," the Hispanic boy mumbled. "So, Ada, you finish the project?"

"Yeah, like last week," Ada replied.

"Project?" Elza asked innocently.

"For our English class," Jill explained. "Mr. Goldman is making us make some kind of presentation on a historical person. We were in groups. Um, it was Carlos and me and Leon and Ada in one group, so on in others."

"That's cool. Who'd you guys do it on?" Elza asked.

"Mel Brooks," Carlos said. "We were going to do it on Michael Phelps but no… Couldn't do that."

"What is with you? He's a swimmer and you treat him like he's your god!" Jill snapped.

"I just like him is all," Carlos replied angrily.

Leon looked in confusion at Ada who mouthed 'relationship troubles' to him. He rolled his eyes bitterly and the big yellow bus rolled up to shut the couple up. Chris and Forest ran up right in time.

Everybody clambered onto the bus but Ada found herself sitting alone. Elza shoved Leon into a seat, where she basically laid on top of him. He shot her a silent apology and she just shrugged and smiled in return.

_Why do I feel like that should be me?_

---

"Calculus is soooo boring," Chris groaned to Ada, who smiled in return. Leon had noticed that the last month, Chris had progressively become nicer to the young Eurasian girl.

"I hear you," Ada replied. "I mean, it's a math class so I expected it but you'd think they'd try to make things a little more enjoyable. Then again… It doesn't help that Mr. Saddler has that boring voice."

Chris grinned at Ada's comment before he asked, "So, I heard there's a piano practice that's going to happen in the auditorium today and people are free to come. Can I?"

Ada looked shocked and a slight blush formed on her cheeks but she nodded faintly and said, "Sure… Um… You have P.E., right? You're going to have to get permission."

"I can do that. The coach is pretty lenient on us. And he likes piano, I think," Chris said. "I'll be there."

She smiled again and Leon noticed he'd snapped his pencil. Sure, ever since Nicholai had attacked Ada, the blond boy had found himself more protective over her but he didn't mind if she tried to date somebody. No, Leon thought he was so upset because it was Chris being nice to her, somebody who used to hate Ada just because she was Carlos' friend.

"Um, Ada, you got an extra pencil?" Leon asked, dropping the two halves of his mechanical pencil into his backpack.

"What happened to yours?" she asked, handing him a black one.

"I…uh…left it at home," he lied. She'd given him that pencil a long time ago. And he'd just broken it.

Ada laughed and looked at the board with a smile on her face as the class started. Leon looked at his hands and wondered why he'd felt so upset that Chris had spoken to Ada.

A/N: Mörder is German for Killer.


	5. Our Next Mozart

More Than A Feeling

She typically wasn't afraid of standing on stage but something about today was different. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the entire auditorium was full and people spoke loudly. Mr. Duvall smiled brightly at his students as he walked to them.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, today is the piano practice on stage. I hope you're all prepared and all that fun stuff. Ada, can I speak with you for a moment?" he asked. She nodded and stayed behind as the rest of the class walked into the auditorium to sit in the front rows. "Ada, I was wondering if you'd be willing to play a special song."

"Um," Ada started. "Sure, I guess." Mr. Duvall smiled brightly at the young teen.

"That a girl," he said happily. "Now, I know you were going to play Blue Danube Waltz but I am hoping you will play Moonlight Sonata for us instead. Mr. Spencer is out there and that just happens to be his favorite piece. I'd like to think that Raccoon High can prove itself to be as good as his charter school."

Ada smiled and nodded her agreement. "I can play the Moonlight, Mr. Duvall. I was going to but then I thought I should settle for something easier. If it's to impress Mr. Spencer, however, I believe I'll play the sonata instead."

The man's face split into a wide grin and he brushed his hair back as he complimented her. But Ada's mind was on the stage. She didn't get stage fright, per se. But she didn't like performing in front of a huge group either. She liked playing for a smaller group or preferably Leon and only Leon.

She walked outside and caught sight of the massive crowd but there was the ever familiar face. Leon spotted her and offered her a grin and a wave. She smiled back, rolled her eyes, and walked down the ramp and away from the stage. When she was close enough to Leon, she mouthed 'Moonlight' to him. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up, causing her to yet again roll her eyes.

She joined the rest of the class in the front row seats and sat down next to a young redhead she recognized as Claire Redfield, Chris' sister. She was a junior, Ada remembered, and had tried to get with Leon since she and her brother had returned to the school. Leon had taken to simply ignoring her.

Mr. Duvall stood on the stage in front of the grand piano and said, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Today is the annual stage practice that I put my students through so they are prepared for the piano recital in December. Today, we will be playing in alphabetic order. One last thing. Audience, I ask you to be quiet and only clap. Please, no whooping and hollering until after the practice is over. First up, Alexia Ashford."

Alexia stood and walked up the ramp, wearing a haughty smile. She deemed herself perfect even though only few others, one of those others being her twin brother, agreed. She sauntered over to the piano, took a seat, and started playing what she called 'her theme.'

Ada sighed and leaned back in her seat. She wasn't interested in what her classmates were playing. They had a bad habit of constantly playing the same song in the 'soundproof' practice rooms and the raven haired teen had learned them by heart. She could not stand her class. They were as bad as always, seemingly thinking that because they could play a song from memory made them better than those who actually sat down and learned the song instead.

Her eyelids closed and she felt herself starting to drift off when two hands grabbed her shoulder and a warm, familiar voice whispered, "Don't fall asleep."

She snapped upright in her seat and turned to face her best friend, who was wearing a huge grin. Ada noticed Claire staring at Leon in shock.

"Next time you grab me, I'll break your arm," she hissed as Alexia finished her song and walked away from the piano.

He smiled at her innocently as another student was called up, though Ada was hardly paying attention. "Who said I grabbed you? Are you imagining things again, Ada? I told you to take your medicine."

"Why you little…" she started, reaching for him. He leaned back, smiling at her cockily. "Just wait. When I go to play my song, I'll hurt you."

Leon's smile faded slightly as he asked, "Why are you playing the Moonlight Sonata? I thought you were going to play the Blue Danube Waltz."

She could see hurt in his eyes and she was shocked. Sure, they considered it their song but that was just teasing, like how as kids they'd decided they were going to get married and the Danube would play as their wedding song. Was it that important to him?

"I was but Mr. Duvall asked me to play the Sonata because Mr. Spencer is here. I guess that's like his favorite song or something," Ada explained, hoping to get rid of the hurt in Leon's eyes. The emotion did fade from his eyes, replaced by what seemed to be relief.

"Well then, you're just going to have to show Spencer what Raccoon High kids are made out of, Ada. Because we all know that none of the other kids in your class are going to do half as well as you," Leon said, that cocky smile coming back. Several kids, including Claire, shot him dirty looks. He just shrugged in response though.

When it was her turn, Claire trotted up the ramp and took a seat. She started playing Ode to Joy and Leon tried to keep silent for the song. Ada rolled her eyes at him and turned around to watch Claire play.

Ada couldn't help but feel the pianist in her grow uneasy by the way Claire, and everybody before her, played the piano. She looked uncomfortable, stiff. Ada knew that any good song had to be played like you were one with the music. If the music was fast paced, you needed to press the keys a little harder, give the song a little more oomph. If the song was slow then you needed to play it softly and you needed to move with the notes. You had to let your fingers figuratively dance over the ebony and ivory keys on the piano.

"Ada…" Leon hissed, breaking her of her reverie. She realized Claire was exiting the stage so she stood and walked up. As she passed the redhead, she noticed the younger girl giving her a dirty look. Ada resisted the urge to stick her foot out and trip her.

"Our last performer, Ada Wong," Mr. Duvall said. He smiled encouragingly at Ada who smiled weakly back. So many people stared at her. Leon, Chris, Jill, Carlos, and many others.

But she felt a true smile form on her lips as she sat at the piano. The big instrument was still warm from being played by Claire and it Ada felt herself falling into the familiar ease of playing.

She rested her finger on the ebony and ivory keys, rested her right foot on the far right pedal, and sucked in a deep breath. Before she knew what she was doing, Ada let her fingers dance over the keys, pressing the notes and filling the auditorium to the soft melodic tones of Beethoven's famous Moonlight Sonata. She felt people watching her, her classmates awestruck, Leon smiling at her, Chris gaping in disbelief at the ease in which she played the difficult song.

She knew Mr. Duvall was beaming proudly at the moment, his eyes twinkling as his pupil showed her talents to the man who created the nearest charter school. She could imagine Jill and Carlos silently cheering her on as they always had. But most of all, she pictured Leon, sitting there and listening and smiling and being Leon.

She hit one of the most difficult parts of the song, having to cross her left hand over her right to play two keys then back to its original place to play two on the left. Back and forth, her left hand went, marking her halfway mark through the song.

Her hands returned to their normal positions and she continued playing, the piano droning out any noise made by the audience. She felt the vibrations from the hammers striking the strings and she remembered Leon saying they should one day see what would happen to the strings if the pressed every key down as hard as possible. A smile flickered across her lips.

_Why does playing the piano always make me think of him?_

She shifted again, letting her fingers play the part of the song that was much different than the rest of the song. She felt her fingers press down harder on the keys than usual, since this part called for being loud. As that part came to and end, the finale was started.

She finished the song as gracefully as she had started, playing the notes gently, almost as if she'd realized their was somebody sleeping in the audience. The song tapered off, her foot holding the peddle down for one, two, three seconds and then lifting up, ending the song.

Ada breathed in deeply, lifted herself from the bench, and bowed to the audience. For a second, nothing occurred, and then the audience roared to life. She lifted herself into a straight position again and stared out over the audience. Everybody was standing, clapping, screaming. Leon was wearing a huge, prideful grin and she met his eyes. He stopped clapping only long enough to motion another bow to her, which she did.

The audience roared for nearly a minute, oddly making her tear up. She didn't bow anymore but she did feel Mr. Duvall walk to her, smiling hugely.

"That was… Oh my God, Ada, that was simply beautiful! Beethoven himself would've been moved to tears, my dear girl," the silver haired man cried over the audience. She felt shock course through her until a familiar voice called out to her. Leon.

She gave Mr. Duvall a happy smile before walking to the steps that led off the stage and walking to Leon, Carlos, and Jill who were all grinning.

"Jesus, I didn't know you were that good," Jill laughed, hugging her friend.

When they separated, Ada smiled and admitted, "I didn't either!"

"I've told you for years, Ada," Leon laughed, pulling her into a hug. "But no, don't listen to me. I haven't known you for fourteen years or anything."

"Guys, I hate to break this up, but third period class already started," Carlos whimpered.

"Crap!" Jill laughed. The four friends ran from the auditorium, while the audience continued to cheer and clap.

Meanwhile, Ozwell E. Spencer smiled and turned to the man sitting next to him, saying, "I think we just found our next Mozart."

A/N: In other words, Ada is _really_ good at playing the piano. Yes, a boring chapter. But by no means pointless.


	6. Cheesy Movies

More Than A Feeling

Halloween morning, Leon got the letter.

His mother had a habit of checking the mail every morning while Leon and whatever sibling was over that day were eating their hearty breakfast that she always made for them. It was a nice big plate of bacon, ham, eggs, toast, and even an apple like his mother always made. He was about a quarter of the way through when his mother entered the house and placed an envelope in front of him.

"What's that?" Jamie asked, looking up from her breakfast. Leon shrugged and continued eating. He was more interested in getting over to Ada's that morning than the mail. He and his best friend were going to work on their Physics homework and he needed to get over there before Ada left the house.

"Well, don't just leave us hanging, Leon, what is it?" Leslie said, walking over to her younger brother. Leon grabbed the envelope and handed it to his sister before picking up his plate and taking it into the kitchen.

"Leon, where are you going so early?" his mother asked, looking at her son.

"Ada's. She needs to help me on my Physics homework," Leon explained, washing the plate off and sticking it in the dish washer.

"Leon!" Leslie called, making her brother groan softly. He walked back into the dining room only to have his sister fling herself onto him and hug him tightly.

"Can't breathe, Les," Leon warned as he struggled to pry the woman off of himself. She released him and stepped back, shoving the now open envelope into his hands. He sighed and looked down at it.

What he saw made him swallow thickly.

---

"I hate Halloween," Ada said for the eighteenth time in the last four minutes. Her mother looked at her quietly.

"Don't be so negative," she told her daughter. Ada rolled her eyes faintly before grabbing her piece of toast and walking back into the living room. Her grandparents sat on the coach, watching the Beijing news.

"Hello Ada," her grandmother said with a warm smile. Ada returned the smile and nodded her head at the old woman.

"You could at least say something to her," her grandfather snapped. Ada narrowed her eyes at the old man.

"Ich sage etwas zu ihr, alter Mann. Nachdem du tot und gegangen bist," she said kindly. Her grandmother shook her head silently, smiling faintly. "I'll never understand why you stay," Ada said to her grandmother. The old woman shrugged simply, indicating that she didn't know why she stayed with the grumpy old man either.

Ada smiled faintly before walking up the stairs and into her room. Her mouse was running around her bed when she got in their and she heard something buzzing loudly. Ada set the toast on her dresser, which caught Mörder's attention immediately, and grabbed her cell phone from under her pillow.

"Hello?" Ada asked after she'd opened the phone and placed it next to her ear.

"Sorry, I thought I should warn you that I'm running a bit late," Leon said, sounding quite out of breath.

"That's okay. We have plenty of time. You okay?" she asked, reaching for her toast. Mörder ran to his cage and waited patiently for his piece of the toast.

"Yeah, just running around," he explained. She heard voices shouting happily in the background.

"Wow, you guys partying over there or something?" Ada laughed, tearing off a piece of toast and handing it to the small mammal, who started nibbling on it right away.

"No… Well, they might be but I'm not," Leon laughed. She smiled but before she could say anything, he said, "Meet me in your tree."

---

The tree house had been in the tree since Leon and Ada were toddlers. It was a big house, designed to cover the entire expanse of the top of the oak tree and Ada could crawl from her bedroom window into the tree house, since they sat right next to each other. He and Ada had used it as their 'base' forever.

"Took you long enough," Ada laughed, peering over the edge of the tree house wall. "I was beginning to think you were just playing me."

"Nope," he laughed, pulling himself up through the trapdoor of the tree house. "You know, I remember back in our childhood how we used to actually need the ladder to get up in this thing." Ada took his backpack from him as he sat down and made himself comfortable.

"Those were the good old days," she said wistfully. He smiled warmly before looking the old house over.

Their old drawings and warnings covered the walls, showing their progression through the years. The latest was a huge sign that said: "No Boys Named Nicholai Allowed!" Leon had made it almost immediately after Nicholai when he and Ada had used the old tree house as their sanctuary.

"So, how far did you get?" Ada asked as she muffled a yawn with her hand. He broke away from his thoughts and found himself noticing that she wasn't wearing a jacket, even with the chilly October air. Only one of her thin sweaters.

"Here," he said, taking his own jacket off and offering it to her. It was his favorite jacket, a black leather one his father had bought him for his birthday. But Ada was shaking faintly and he wasn't about to let her freeze because she hadn't grabbed a jacket.

Ada lifted her eyes to meet his, confusion in them. She knew how much he treasured his jacket. It was one of the few things he actually really liked enough to take care of. And he knew she was uncertain as to why he would offer it to her. He wouldn't let Elza use it. Why Ada?

_I've known her longer, that's it. If Elza and I make it past high school, I'll let her use it._

Leon knew he was wrong though. He knew that he wouldn't let Elza use it. And as Ada took the jacket and slipped it on, he knew why he would let Ada use it but not Elza. He just wouldn't admit it to himself.

---

The bus ride was rather awkward, again. Apparently Elza had lost her license, again, and she was forced to ride the bus. She again sat against Leon, basically laying on him. And the worst thing was, Ada was still wearing his jacket. He'd never asked for it back and Ada hadn't remembered that she was wearing it until Jill had given her a look. A "what the hell do you think you're wearing?!" look.

Ada rested her forehead against the window, allowing her eyes to close, as she waited for the bus to get to the school. She felt the bus stop for the last stop of that route and somebody sat next to her.

"Hope you don't mind if I join you," Chris said. Ada opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion. Ever since the piano concert, Chris had progressively become more and more friendly towards Ada.

"No…I don't mind," she said faintly, returning her head to the window. The cold glass cooled her face, which she hadn't noticed get warm.

---

At lunch, Elza broke up with Leon.

He'd known it was coming. Their relationship had slowly been falling apart since the beginning. They were too different to get along. The reason a lot of Leon's relationships fell apart. Well, that and they always said he acted more like Ada's boyfriend then their boyfriend.

But even though he'd known it was coming, it still hurt. Maybe it was because he really liked her. No. It was more likely that he was saddened by the fact that she'd broken up with him on Halloween, her so-called favorite holiday.

He sighed and walked to the bench that he and his friends usually ate at unless he or one of the others had a girlfriend/boyfriend. Nobody was at the bench so he sat down on it and rested his face in his hands.

_And nobody even knows about…_

---

Ada found Leon at the concrete bench with his head in his hands and his elbows resting on his knees. She frowned and knew exactly what had happened. She pulled the jacket off and draped it over his shoulders before sitting next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Tell me how you feel, young warrior," Ada said. Leon laughed before he straightened up and Ada pulled away.

"What are you, a psychiatrist?" he laughed. She noticed, however, the way his eyes darkened slightly, humor vanishing from the blue depths.

"Probably not. I've never heard a psychiatrist call anybody young warrior," Ada said with a smile. Her smile, however, quickly faded and she looked at him seriously. "She break up with you?" He nodded and for some reason Ada felt _joy _that Elza was out of the picture. She still felt sorrow for her friend though. He was hurting, after all. "Do you want me to break her arm?" A true laugh escaped her friend.

"No, Ada. You can't break her arm… You'd get in trouble," he remarked.

She shrugged and said, "I got away with it last time."

"Wait… Wait?" he asked, looking over at her seriously. She gave him a false shocked look, her eyes wide, and her hand covering her mouth.

"Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you," she teased.

"Ada…" he said, looking at her.

She would've told him she didn't touch his last girlfriend when Jill and Carlos walked up, their hands interlocked and both wearing excited smiles. But they noticed the way the two friends looked and Jill frowned.

"Elza?" Jill asked. Leon nodded and Carlos released Jill's hand. "Ada, let's go get something to eat."

Ada would've much rather stayed at Leon's side. She wanted to stay there and continue to comfort him. But she knew that Carlos wanted to help his friend so she reached over and gave Leon's hand a squeeze and stood up. Leon cast her a grateful look and she smiled back.

---

Leon hated not telling Ada the truth. He hated that he wasn't going to be able to go over to her house and watch cheesy horror movies with her like they always did. They would move her small TV into the tree house, bundle up together, and watch hours of movies until they passed out and her mother had to come out and tell them to go to bed.

And Leon also hated that he hadn't told anybody about what he'd received in the mail that morning.

_New York… That's so far away… I don't know… _

"We're here," his mother said, breaking him from his thoughts about the mail, and stopping in front of a huge building. Leon looked up at the massive building.

_I hate psychiatrists…_

His mother was making him speak to a psychiatrist. Apparently she believed that her sons and daughters were suffering some mental trauma because of the divorce. So, she had set up appointments for Leon, Leslie, Jamie, and John to speak to a Mr. X.

Leon's mother led him to the building and guided him inside. An elderly woman sat behind a tall desk and looked up at Leon. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of the blond teen, who gave her a bewildered look in return.

"Name?" the old woman asked, her voice gravelly.

"Um, Kennedy," Leon's mother said. He knew she hated saying that name but Leon and Leslie had refused to change their last names to their mother's maiden name.

"Second floor," the old woman, Miss Bella according to her name tag, said.

Leon looked at the elevator nearby and thought about how he'd much rather be with Ada, watching Evil Dead.

---

It wasn't the same. Ada couldn't watch movies without Leon. She missed feeling his warm body next to her. She missed being able to cuddle closer to him while they made fun of the so-called scary parts of the movie. She missed him. Badly.

_It's not like he died…_

She was bothered by the fact that she didn't know where the hell he'd gone. He'd said his mother wanted him home but she could tell he was lying.

Turning her pale green eyes back to the small TV screen in front of her, Ada couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her best friend.

---

Mr. X looked…weird, to say the least. He was a huge man, bald, with very pale eyes, and nearly grey skin. Leon was kind of frightened by the psychiatrist. But the man smiled at Leon pleasantly and the blond forced himself to relax a bit.

The big man sat in a chair next to the couch thing Leon was laying on. He could hear Ada now, teasing him about laying next to a man that could very well crush his head in five seconds.

"Leon, right? You don't mind if I call you by your first name, do you? Your sister Leslie wouldn't let me call her Leslie," Mr. X said. Leon forced himself to smile.

"Yeah, that's Les…" he mumbled. "You can call me Leon. I don't care."

"Okay Leon. Your mother wants you to talk about how the divorce made you feel. Can you talk about it?" the big man asked. Leon nodded.

"I was pissed for a little while. But I got over it. It's not like I could've changed their minds," Leon said with a shrug.

"Do you blame yourself at all?" Mr. X asked, writing on a notepad.

"Nope. Ada said that if I ever did blame myself, she'd break my arm. So…I kinda never really tried," he said, remembering the day she'd told him that.

"Ada?"

"She's my best friend," Leon explained.

"You two really close?"

"We've known each other for fourteen years."

"Impressive. So, she helped you through the divorce?"

"Yeah. She always helps me through whatever problem I have. Like, just today… My girlfriend broke up with me and Ada was right there. She's great."

"That sounds like you view her as more than a friend Leon."

The blond teen froze before looking over at Mr. X. "She's just my friend."

"Are you not willing to take the relationship further?"

Leon looked away again, looking at the painting next to him instead. "We kinda just…agreed…that we wouldn't. We didn't want to ever take the chance that we would break up and ruin years of friendship. I don't want to test how close we are and I don't think she does either. …What the hell? This isn't about Ada."

"No but I'm a psychiatrist. I'm supposed to find things out about you. Do you love Ada?"

"Of course I do. She's my best friend."

"As more than a friend?"

---

Ada frowned as Bruce Campbell cut another deadite's head off. Leon loved making fun of those kinds of scenes. She really missed having him there. He could come up with some of the funniest things at the best moments of the movie.

"Ada?" her grandmother called. Ada looked over into her bedroom, smiling faintly as her grandmother waved at her. "Where's Leon?"

The raven haired teen looked away as she said, "He…um….he had something to do."

"Oh… Well, here's some dinner for you," the old woman said, handing Ada a single plate. She and Leon typically shared a plate, since they would usually snack on popcorn before.

"Thanks," Ada said. She watched her grandmother leave before she set the plate on the floor of the tree house. She wasn't really hungry.

---

Leon walked to his mother's car, his eyes on the ground and his hands in his pockets. His mother smiled warmly at him from the driver's side of the car and he offered her a weak smile back.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, blissfully ignorant of her son's discomfort.

"No, it wasn't," Leon agreed, climbing into the passenger's seat.

_Except for the fact that he made me realize I'm in love with my best friend…_

---

"Ada," a voice softly whispered, gently shaking her shoulder. She mumbled go away bitterly and buried her face into her blanket. "Ada, it's Leon."

She forced her eyes open and looked up to see, sure enough, the handsome face of Leon Kennedy. She smiled and lifted herself into a sitting position, stretching her arms out stiffly.

"I thought you froze to death or something… You realize it's like midnight, right?" he laughed. She smiled at him.

"We've stayed out later," she reminded.

"True… So, do you want to watch a movie?" he asked. She glanced at the TV, which was portraying Evil Dead 2's menu screen.

"Why not?" she asked.

He reached over and hit play on the DVD played before leaning back. When he was close enough, Ada leaned into him and draped the blanket across his legs. His left arm rested across her shoulders.

As the movie started, Ada realized something. Before he'd been there, she'd been upset. Earlier today, after she found Leon on the bench and she'd found out he'd been dumped, she'd been happy. She was enjoying the warmth of his body next to hers and she'd thought of him as handsome when she'd woken up.

_Oh my God… I'm in love with him…_

A/N: What Ada said in German: "I'll say something to her, old man. After you're dead and gone." Isn't that a loving relationship? Also, what do you guys think the letter Leon got was about?


	7. Rock Band

More Than A Feeling

A/N: Just really quick: I know a lot of people aren't fond of 'song fics." So, I apologize if this chapter comes off as one. (It's not…) This is the only time I'll ever do this, so you only have to endure with it for now. (And as a recommendation, listen to Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi as you read this…) And as for the letter in the last chapter, RevolutionZwei and Dead I Rain were correct.

Jill and Carlos were fighting again. Which, really, was nothing new. But that didn't mean that Ada didn't mind if they fought. It was annoying, especially since they fought over the stupidest of things.

Like today. Jill wanted to go to the Homecoming Dance but Carlos wanted to go over to Leon's and play Rock Band. Jill typically won these arguments but with the way this one was spiraling out of control, Ada wasn't certain who would win and who would lose.

She and Leon sat next to each other on his couch, listening to Jill and Carlos snap at each other. They were probably preparing to go at each other's throats. Leon finally sighed and stood up.

"Okay guys, this has gone far enough," he said calmly. "Why don't we just have a party at my place?"

"A party? Your mom would never approve," Jill said, calming herself slowly.

"My mom's not going to be home tonight since she's going on a date and Jamie's staying at her friends. Leslie decided to live with my dad for the week," Leon pointed out. Jill looked away from him, considering his idea.

"It must be nice," Ada admitted. She was hoping to make small talk with him. Ever since she'd come to terms with how she felt for him, things had been awkward. She reacted to things, like when he would brush up against her, in the wrong way. They couldn't even lean together without Ada feeling awkward. "I mean, I know you guys hate that they're divorced but you would never really tire of one house. If you just got upset with one, you could go live with the other."

Leon smiled, which made her smile immediately, and said, "Yeah it is. That's why Dad moved next door when they split, I think. That way we could just have easy access to them both, you know?"

"Okay Leon. But only if we can invite some other people," Jill said, breaking into Leon and Ada's conversation. The blond teen's eyes widened slightly and Ada saw the familiar look of uncertainty in his eyes.

"I don't know if my mom would let us…" he said, looking at Ada.

"Your mom wouldn't let you what?" Josephine asked suddenly as she walked into the living room.

"You're like a ninja!" Carlos said. Josephine looked unimpressed.

"And I see you haven't changed, Carlos," she mumbled before looking at her son. He failed to meet her eyes though. Ada knew it was because of a fight they'd gotten into. Something Leon hadn't elaborated upon. He refused to. Ada was somewhat worried but she thought that even Leon deserved his secrets. He still, after all, hadn't told her what he'd spoken to the coach that day so long ago.

"We were hoping to have a party," Leon explained. "But Jill wants to invite some others."

"How many?" the woman asked, looking over at the brunette girl.

"Not that many. It's Homecoming Dance tonight so…maybe five or six other people," Jill offered. Josephine looked between the teens before she shrugged and mumbled the go ahead. Ada noticed that Leon continued to keep his head down.

The raven haired teen stood and grabbed Leon's arm. "We need to talk," she said softly, starting to pull him towards his room. Jill noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"Keep the door open, you two," Jill ordered. Ada shot her a dirty look in return before guiding Leon to his room.

The Leon's room was rather plain, only containing a couple posters on the wall, a desk, his bed and Buddy's bed, and finally his closet that was rarely ever opened. Ada knew. She'd hidden some stuff in their long ago. Like rocks they'd found.

"What's wrong with you?" Ada asked as Leon sat on his bed with his elbows on his knees and his head down. "You couldn't even look at your mother. You've been like this since All Saints Day."

"It's just about an argument we got into," Leon said.

"Yeah? You told me that. What argument?" she asked, joining him on his bed. She noticed the picture that was on his desk and a smile tugged at her lips. It was the picture of them with Buddy, Mörder, and Ada's Shar Pei Jeong from the prior year. Before Nicholai.

"Just some stupid stuff that we can't agree on. Living arrangements and all that… Don't worry about it Ada. It's just… Stupid… Okay?" he mumbled, lifting his head as he finished.

It wasn't okay but Ada couldn't say that. She just nodded her head and kept her mouth shut.

---

"Chris, Claire, Steve, Albert, Jack, Billy, Rebecca, Barry, and Ark?" Carlos asked. "Jill, that's too many people! We're going to get Leon in trouble."

"It's too late anyway," Leon mumbled, carrying a case of sodas. "Everybody's here and my mom probably doesn't even care. Just relax Carlos. Everything will be fine. I don't need you watching my back."

The couple looked at Leon in shock. He just shrugged at them and walked into the living room, where ten teenagers sat around his large TV, snacking on whatever they could get their fingers on and drinking soda after soda. He handed the case of sodas to Barry, who opened it carefully and passed the drinks out to everyone.

"So, Rock Band anybody?" Carlos asked, walking into the living room behind Leon. Several heads bobbed excitedly and Chris joined Carlos to set the game up. Soon, the game started and everybody was crowding around it. Except Ada.

She sat on the couch, staring off into space and being ignored by everyone. Leon backed out of the crowd as a song, American Woman, and joined Ada where she sat. The conversation in his bedroom added with the awkwardness they'd been enduring since his visit to the psychiatrist was beginning to get to him. He didn't want to lose his best friend.

They sat together, listening to Claire sing the song. But Leon noticed that Ada avoided looking at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, Leon," Ada said stiffly.

"You can't lie to me, Ada, remember?" he teased. But the humor left as soon as he saw the anger in her eyes as she looked at him.

"But you can lie to me," she growled.  
"Ada I-"

"Don't give me that 'living arrangements' bull that you said up in your room. I know you and your mother too well for that to be the problem," she said furiously, cutting him off.

He looked away from her. He needed to tell her. He needed to tell her about how his mother had gone behind his back and sent a request to a New York university. How this university was well known for having some of the best police come out of it. And how they had sent back and said that they were more than willing to have him join their school.

"Okay. Fine we-"

"Somebody else needs to sing. I can't sing Bon Jovi," Claire said, waving the microphone. Leon looked at her silently before something in him seemed to snap and he grabbed Ada's hand. Awkward or not, she was his best friend and he wanted things to be normal, whether it was them messing with others or just doing something gutsy.

"Sing with me," he said to his best friend. Her emerald eyes widened in confusion.

"I don't sing," she said, shaking her head.

"I know. But there's a first time for everything," he remarked with a shrug. He took the microphone and handed it to Ada as the crowd backed off and gave them a clear view of the TV. Ada was shaking slightly and Leon noticed it and he would've taken her hand but Jill suddenly stepped to Ada's side.

"I'll sing with you for a little while, Ada," the other girl offered, looking at her friend. Ada gave her a look but the song was starting so she turned her attention back to the TV.

Together, Ada and Jill spoke the first lines: "Once upon a time, not so long ago."

Jill held the microphone and started singing for Ada, her voice coming out of the speakers as she sang:

__

Tommy used to work on the docks  
Union's been on strike  
He's down on his luck...It's tough, so tough

Jill shoved the microphone in front of Ada's lips again, her smile bright as Ada softly sang:

_Gina works the diner all day  
Working for her man, she brings home her pay  
For love, mmm, love_

Unfortunately, she was singing too quietly and the indicator on the side of the screen showed the little microphone drop. As a response to the drop, Ada sang louder, her melodic voice pouring into the room from the speakers.

_She says: We've got to hold on to what we've got  
'Cause it doesn't make a difference  
If we make it or not  
We've got each other and that's a lot  
For __love__ - we'll give it a shot_

As the chorus approached, Jill once again stepped to the microphone, and joined Ada in singing.

_Whoa__, __we're half way there  
Whoa, livin' on a prayer  
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear  
Whoa, livin' on a prayer_

The group of teens was beginning to get into the young woman's singing, smiles lighting their faces as they listened to her melodious voice. Jill stepped away, letting Ada sing for herself again.

_Tommy got his six string in hock  
Now he's holding in what he used  
To make it talk - so tough, it's tough  
Gina dreams of running away  
When she cries in the night_

Leon suddenly stepped forward, daring to be brave. He leaned over Ada's shoulder, to her surprise, and sang:

_Tommy whispers: __Baby__ it's okay, someday_

Startled, the crowd looked at Leon. He knew he had a decent singing voice and people liked it. But they rarely heard it. The duo smiled at one another and, leaning closely together, they sang.

_We've got to hold on to what we've got  
'Cause it doesn't make a difference  
If we make it or not  
We've got each other and that's a lot  
For love - we'll give it a shot_

With how close they were leaning together, Leon could feel Ada's breath as they sang and he could smell the mint from her toothpaste.

_Whoa, we're half way there  
Whoa, livin' on a prayer  
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear  
Whoa, livin' on a prayer_

Leon, unfortunately, failed to notice the bitter look Chris was giving them. The blond was in his own world. A world that only included Ada and happiness, not the miserable life he was encountering, where he had to make a decision. New York university or home community college?

_We've got to hold on ready or not  
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got_

Leon had his hand on Ada's waist and although neither of them noticed as they sang, Jill sure did. She smiled faintly.

_Whoa, we're half way there  
Whoa, livin' on a prayer  
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear  
Whoa, livin' on a prayer_

Lowering the microphone, Ada playfully pushed her friend away from her, forcing him to notice where his hand had been oh-so comfortably resting. She didn't seem to notice though as she was quickly surrounded by friends, except Albert who was a recluse, and complimented for her voice. Leon smiled but noticed somebody other than Albert wasn't with Ada.

"So, good job," Chris said from Leon's side. The blond glanced at the older teen, feeling slightly self conscience. But the dark haired nineteen year old smirked at him faintly and walked over to Ada to compliment her.

_Just hope Ada didn't notice. She was enjoying herself to much to notice that I did that… It didn't happen. Didn't happen. Didn't happen._

But it sure as hell felt nice. It had felt…right.

Ada broke Leon from his denial by saying that he deserved some compliments too. Rebecca and Claire instantly started saying how they, he and Ada, could so do a ton of duets together, since their voices complimented each other so well. Leon looked at Ada, giving her a hopeless look and she just smiled in return.

'That's what you get for making me sing,' she mouthed before grabbing a soda. Everything was all right. No awkward moment or anything.

_She didn't notice… Thank God…_

---

However… Leon was wrong. Very wrong. Ada had noticed. And as she backed out of the group, letting them compliment the eighteen year old, she felt odd. Had he noticed? Maybe it was just because they were so close together.

Yeah, that had to be. He hadn't done it because he shared her feelings but because they'd been standing so close. And it wasn't like he'd put his hand on her hip. No, just her waist. Like a friend.

But oh how Ada wished it wasn't like a friend. How she wished it was something more.


	8. Under the Mistletoe

More Than A Feeling

_"I hate this thing."_

_"Oh, but you're adorable!"_

_"Stop teasing me…"_

_"I'm not teasing you!" _

_"Yes, you are. Calling me adorable because this thing is… There's not even words to describe this thing!"_

_"It's not a thing. It's called a sweater."_

_"Really? Are you sure? How would you know anyway? It's not like you wear sweaters."_

_"Oh ha. That's so funny. You see how funny I found it."_

_"I know. It's hysterical."_

_"Just shut up, Leon."_

_"As you wish, Lord Ada."_

---

Christmas was the time of love. The time to tell people how you felt about them. It was the time to get together and exchange gifts and it was the time to love and cherish those you held dear.

Ada associated Christmas with eggnog and cookies and hot turkey with Leon. They had a habit of spending Christmas with each other, switching houses each year. One year, they would go to Leon's father's house and celebrate the holiday. The next year, they would spend it with Leon's mother. Finally, they went to Ada's and then the cycle restarted.

Their most common of habits was a playful competition. Who could get who the best gift? Ada liked to believe she was winning so far. She'd bought Leon videogames and expensive videogame consoles since they started high school. He'd bought her Mörder's cage, videogames, and jewelry. And the great thing about their competition was the fact that no matter the expensiveness of the gift, there were no hard feelings. If Ada bought Leon a sweater and he bought her a necklace, he wouldn't be upset and neither would she, even though she would be bested by his gift.

However, that year, while their gift exchange competition would continue, their schedule was messed up. This year, they were due to spend it with Leon's father. However, because of his mother's success at finding a boyfriend, Josephine had decided on throwing a Christmas party, in which Leon had to attend. Ada couldn't remember a Christmas she hadn't spent with her best friend so she found herself joining him.

Ada believed the awkwardness they'd encountered vanished as soon as the sun rose on Christmas Eve. She found herself looking forward to spending the holiday with her friend, if only because that meant they would be spending a lot of time together.

She hated being unable to control her emotions. She was used to being unreadable, something she had prided herself on after Nicholai. Boys couldn't stand talking to her because she would switch things around on them. They'd flirt, she'd be cruel. Girls hated the fact that Ada didn't like to date. But Jill, one of the few girls who understood Ada's reluctance to start up a relationship again, stood up against those girls.

"Ada, are you going to continue laying there?" a familiar voice asked, breaking her from her thoughts. She was still in bed, listening to her radio and Mörder running around in his cage. Ada rolled over in bed and saw Leon sitting in the tree house.

_Thank God I sleep in a long sleeve shirt and sweats…_

"Yes, actually I… What in God's name are you wearing?!" she laughed, lifting herself into a sitting position. The blankets fell from her shoulders to bunch around her waist.

Leon lowered his head so his hair fell into his face, successfully hiding his reddening cheeks. But Ada wasn't about to let him free so easily.

"No, really. What is that? Is that a sweater? I haven't seen you wear a sweater in… What, seven years?" she laughed.

"Six," he corrected. She remembered that sweater because she'd called him adorable in it. Which he had been, though he thought she was just kidding. Ada didn't really kid about that stuff though.

"Oh, it's cute. And it's red. I'm so wearing a matching red sweater," she laughed. "Come on in so I can find a match."

Leon crawled in through her open window as she climbed out of bed and started looking through her closet for a sweater to match the one Leon was clad in. She could feel his eyes on her back and she felt her face heating up slightly.

_It's not like he's never seen you like this…_

The heat vanished and she grabbed her favorite crimson turtle neck, turning to see if it matched with the one Leon was wearing. The blond looked at her as she held it up and lowered it, comparing the two colors.

"Perfect," she said, smiling again.

"Everybody is going to tease me," he grumbled.

"And not me?" she teased.

"No!" he stated calmly. "They'll say we're dating or some stupid crap like that." For a split second, Ada didn't care what he'd said. But then the meaning of those words struck her and she felt the humor fade. Leon seemed to tense up too but he said nothing. When she looked up into his eyes, she thought she might've spotted sorrow in those blue depths. But she ignored it.

"You should go. I'll be there soon."

He didn't argue. Instead, he nodded and left the room without a word. Ada felt her eyes sting. So much for the awkwardness being gone.

---

The party was too busy for Leon's tastes. Some of the kids from his school were there since his mother had invited their older family. Including Chris and Claire, whose uncle and aunt were invited. Albert Wesker and his father looked damn near the exact same, standing in the living room in the same clothes with the same hair and the same sunglasses. People avoided speaking to them directly.

Leon noticed William Birkin trying to get Annette Miller to kiss him under the thin of mistletoe that was hanging from the center of the archway that led into the kitchen. Annette snapped something at William before stalking off.

Carlos and Jill weren't speaking to each other, though Leon did notice Carlos was chatting pleasantly with Luis Sera, the self proclaimed 'player' of the school, and Ashley Graham, the rich girl. Leon knew her dad was in government but he couldn't remember if the man was a senator or something higher.

Jill wasn't anywhere in sight and Chris was walking around with his pack, as people had taken to calling them. Richard Aiken, Joseph, Forest, and Barry followed Chris like obedient dogs. When asked, they simply answered that Chris was a good leader.

"Looking for somebody in particular, Blue?" a familiar voice asked. "Though, I guess I can't rightfully call you that today, can I? After all, we match."

Leon turned to face Ada as she walked in through the front door and damn near got the shock of his life. Ada was well known for only wearing dresses to formal occasions, not parties but actual balls or things like that.

But the young woman decided to wear one apparently. She was clad in a crimson down that fell down to her ankles. Black high heels added an inch or two onto her height. A crimson sweater, the one she'd picked out that morning, was on over top of the dress, leaving viewers to only imagine what it looked like. Her raven hair was done in its usual style, falling over the right side of her face but pushed back behind her ear on the left. Her bangs fell messily into her face. She wasn't wearing enough make-up to be obvious but Leon was so used to seeing her face free of anything that even the slight dab of lipstick and eyeshadow were noticed by him.

To say the least, Leon felt incredibly under dressed in the red sweater his mother had made him wear and blue jeans. And his old black boots too.

Ada said his name and he shook off his shook, though he still couldn't stop staring at her. "You look…"

"I know…over dressed… But my mom kind of got carried away," Ada explained, closing the door behind her. He hadn't even noticed that it had been open and now he felt slightly guilty.

"No… Not…um… Yeah, how about we just go into the living room," he stammered. She smiled at him, though he noticed the confusion in her eyes. No doubt she noticed the way he stumbled over his words.

They walked into the living room, their shoulders nearly touching, but Leon flinched at the way the room became quieter as he and Ada entered it. Carlos and Luis gaped at Ada, causing Leon to feel slight anger at them. But Chris was the worst. The young man was staring at Ada with an emotion Leon had seen only a couple of times, mostly between Luis and his female friend at the time.

Luckily, his mother appeared in the living room at that moment to grab everybody's attention.

"Dinner!" she said excitedly.

---

Sitting on the living room couch, Ada slowly ate her plate of food, becoming more and more self conscious of the stares she was getting. Leon sat next to her and she noticed how she would tense up every time a guy complimented her. The adults spoke softly about how "well little Ada could clean up." As if the raven haired teen couldn't hear them.

"Ignore 'em Ada," Leon suddenly said. She looked over at him, looking at his cerulean eyes. "They did the same to me… Remember last year? At the court?" he asked. She nodded. Leon's parents had gotten into a struggle over who had the kids and who didn't. Leon and his older siblings had been called into the court to speak on the matter. It was the only time anybody had ever seen Leon in a suit. "They talked about me behind my back. Said the only reason I'd ever get cleaned up is because I had to help split my parents further."

"Who said it? I'll poison their food," Ada promised, shifting closer to her friend. She noticed he hadn't eaten any of his food and she opened her mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. Josephine looked up, confused, before she walked off to answer it. She returned moments later.

"Ada… It's for you," Leon's mother said quietly. Ada cast her a confused look but handed Leon her plate and got up to speak to the person.

Standing in front of the door was Spencer. The old man looked at Ada and smiled at her pleasantly. Even though she was a little freaked out by the old man, she smiled in return.

"We have never gotten the chance to speak in person, Miss Wong," Spencer said, extending a hand to Ada. She took it politely and shook his hand.

"Um, no, I can't say we ever have, Mr. Spencer," she replied.

"Rather unfortunate. Well, I'm certain you want to get back to the party so I'll simply cut to the chase. I hope you don't mind me being blunt about the matter," Spencer said. Ada smiled and shook her head. "Miss Wong, in all my years I have never seen a person that could play the Moonlight Sonata half as beautifully as you did earlier this year. The song is a difficult piece. It took me years to master the version you played that day. And yet you pulled it off like a natural.

"It is said that naturals are obvious by their abilities to do many things. Play the piano, guitar, flute, so on. Tell me, Miss Wong. Do you play any of those?"

"I can play the guitar and um… I can kind of play the violin and the clarinet," Ada said, a little more than confused at what was going on.

"Hm, interesting… And I've heard from your peers that you have a talent in singing too. Is that correct?" he asked.

She bit her lip, thinking back to the Homecoming party. "I guess. I don't really sing the way I play piano. I don't really like singing in front of people," Ada admitted.

"Well, I'm certain you're confused as to why this crazy old man is asking you about your musical interests, but I'm also certain that you're smart enough to know where this is going. Am I correct?"

"Well, you said something about naturals being able to play multiple instruments. And then you asked me about the instruments I can play… Are you calling me a natural at music?" she asked. Preposterous. Right?

"I am. When I heard you play that song compared to the other pianists, I was amazed. Now, trust me, I knew that you were told to play it by your teacher. A colleague of mine heard you and your friend, the blond boy, talking about it. I hope you don't mind that I somewhat spied…" Although it did bother Ada to know that, she didn't really care at the moment and she offered shrug in return. "Good. But I also know that you would've played whatever song you intended to play just as magnificently as you did the Moonlight Sonata. So, let me cut to the chase. I have a school in Germany. It is recognized as the number one musical school of the world. And I want to offer you a scholarship to it."

Ada gaped at the man standing in front of her. No way in hell did he just tell her that he was giving her a scholarship to go to a college in Germany? The teen found herself unable to form words.

"I've spoken with your parents and they said that they completely backed whatever decision you made. The scholarship will completely pay for four to eight years of schooling in the university. But I need an answer Ada. Now, actually, because I have to tell the school," Spencer said, dropping formalities.

"I… I don't know if I can make that kind of decision right now. All my friends…" she started.

"I know how hard of a decision this must be, since you'll be leaving your home. But think about it. Would you rather stay here for the rest of your life, maybe get a degree in something, or would you rather have a promised degree in Germany? And even if you can't, for some reason, pass the classes it was still free."

Ada lowered her gaze to the floor. Leon was her main reason for staying behind. But she knew that if he was there with her at that moment he would've told her to go to Germany. He would've completely backed the idea of going.

Ada lifted her eyes to meet Spencer's and she gave him her answer.

---

Leon found Ada leaning in the archway that led to the kitchen, her arms folded over her chest and her eyes staring blankly at the ground. He was shocked to see his friend standing like that. He was carrying both of their plates, the food gone cold, but he left them on the table that sat near the door. He was more concerned for his friend than he was about his mom getting pissed at him.

"Ada, you okay?" he asked, concerned. She looked over at him and pushed off from the wall, standing straight and letting her arms drop to her sides. A false smile formed on her lips.

"Yeah. I'm just thinking," she said. He joined her in the archway.

"Care to share what you were thinking about?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest. She rolled her eyes.

"Are you my psychiatrist or something?" she teased.

A grin split his lips as he said, "No. If I was a psychiatrist, I would say 'how does that make you feel' every five seconds."

She laughed, leaving forward slightly and her hair falling into her face like it always did. They were closer than they should be, he realized suddenly. She straightened herself out again but when she looked up at him, humor was gone from her eyes. Leon suddenly remembered what was above their heads. William's attempts at getting Annette to kiss him came flying back to him.

Something about the way Ada was looking up at him at that moment was rather confusing. He didn't recognize the look in her green eyes. But something was there. And before he could really shut himself away, he lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek. She stepped into his arms and in a second they closed the space and pressed their lips together in a kiss.

---

And the second their lips touched, they stepped into their own little world. But back in reality under the mistletoe, their bodies still together in blissful ignorance, Chris Redfield clenched his fists in fury as he saw them.

A/N: Le gasp!! Cliffhanger!! Okay, this chapter and probably the next chapter are my Christmas gifts to all of my awesome readers! Another question for you guys, because I like making you think, what was Ada's answer to Spencer?


	9. A Not So Happy Christmas

More Than A Feeling

Funnily enough, both teens were thinking the same thing at that moment. Almost as if they were connected telepathically and not just by their lips.

_Oh my God, oh my God… I'm kissing my best friend! Stop kissing! …But it feels nice…right…perfect…_

So, they kept kissing, ignoring the front door as it opened and slammed closed. However, Fate had a tendency to screw with people. And it chose to do so in the form of Leon's mother. Josephine called out and the teens broke apart, though Ada wished to step back into the kiss. Leon's looked at her in shock and confusion and she found herself looking back. What would they do? That was not a friendly kiss. That was something else. Obviously, that was something else.

_Good job, you probably just ruined your friendship._

But he'd acted too. In fact, thinking back, he'd acted first. But that didn't matter because Josephine was suddenly there.

"I thought you two got lost or something," the woman said with a huge smile. Ada wanted to smile but her fists clenched at her side and she felt goose bumps run up and down her body. "Come on now, let's get back to the party," she said, waving a hand at the two.

Ada, feeling oddly detached from her body, shook her head and mumbled out, "I... I have to go home…"

Josephine frowned and said, "Oh… That's too bad. Well, at least let me fetch you your gift." The woman left, again leaving Ada with Leon. The raven haired girl saw her blond friend standing away from her, his head down and his hair hiding his face. She had the urge to go to him and brush it out of his face. Josephine returned suddenly, handing Ada a small box that had her name on it in Leon's small neat hand writing. "There you go sweetie. I hope we'll get to see you tomorrow."

Ada offered her a weak smile and without so much as a glance to her silent friend, she walked out of the house. She walked out into the snow and cringed at the icy air as it attacked her bare face and neck. But she endured and continued walking until she noticed the dark form near a car.

It was Chris. He stood against his uncle's car with a cigarette between his fingers. One end was a bright red/orange color that, as he took a drag off of it, glowed brightly. He breathed the smoke out and looked at her. He noticed she was just staring at her and cocked his head in confusion.

"I didn't know that you smoked," she said softly, her fists clenching though her right hand couldn't do any damage to the small, neatly wrapped gift. Tears threatened her with their ever noticeable stinging warning but she forced herself to keep calm. Chris didn't know. Only Leon and his parents did.

"I quit, for a little while. But something made me start up again. It's kinda easy to take things from unsuspecting adults," the dark haired teen said. "Why?"

"You should quit," Ada simply said. Chris gave her a confused look.

"I know I should. But it's a little more difficult then that. …What the hell are you doing out here? You should be inside. You'll freeze out here," he said.

"I'm going home," she stiffly replied.

"I thought you always spent Christmas with Leon," Chris scoffed. She frowned, feeling the now familiar nervousness that filled her stomach.

"Not this year," she mumbled, watching as he took another drag off the cigarette.

"Something happen?" he asked, smoke billowing out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Stop," she finally snapped, tears welling in her eyes. The boy gave her a confused look. "Stop with the cigarette."

"Jesus, what's your problem?" he asked, dropping it into the snow. It vanished immediately and Ada felt the tears vanish. But she didn't reply. She just started for home. She needed to get away from the house. From Chris and his cigarette, to Leon and his soft lips. But most of all from a memory that haunted her.

"Wait, Ada! I didn't mean…" Chris tried. But the young woman ignored him and walked home, clutching the present to her chest.

---

Chris reeked of smoke when he came back in the house and Leon felt rage replace his confusion. The kiss was not forgotten but he knew that Ada would've walked past Redfield when she'd left and as much as it hurt that she'd left at all, Leon knew she'd seen Chris.

"Aren't you a bit young to be throwing your life away?" Leon growled as Chris walked past him. The older boy turned to face the blond.

"Great, you too?" Chris scoffed coldly. "What's with you guys? Everybody knew I smoked before-"

"What? You're smoking again? You told me you'd quit," Jill suddenly snapped, popping up from the crowd. The adults' conversations died down and all eyes turned to the two. Leon noticed the look on Carlos' face and he felt that rage continue to rise.

_Yeah, I can't ever have Ada without the fear of ruining what we've got but Jill can use Carlos without any repercussions. That's just freaking perfect…_

But Leon wasn't really feeling in the mood that night. So, while their attention was on Chris and Jill, Leon walked over to the stairs and up to his room. When he got into the relative safety of his dark, small room, Leon felt the tension start to ease away. Buddy looked at the young man and gave him a 'what's your problem?' look.

"Everything Buddy, everything," Leon replied, plopping down onto his bed. The big bloodhound mix hopped up onto Leon's bed with him and lay his head on the boy's chest.

_"Aww! Leon, come look!" Ada cried, waving her friend over. The ten year old boy ran over to her, nearly tripping himself. He joined her where she stood in front of the pet shop, looking in at the puppies near the window. "Look at this one," she said, pointing to a lazy faced canine. "I like him."_

_Leon nodded in agreement, watching as the puppy lifted himself up and walked over to them. He pressed his paws to the glass, licking at their faces. The young animal pulled away from the glass, staring in confusion at the fact that he hadn't licked a fleshy being but rather something cold and foreign._

_"Dad!" Leon called. His dark haired father walked over to the two kids, looking at the puppy silently._

_"Your mother is going to hate me," he said, pulling out his wallet. _

_"No she won't Mr. Dad," Ada said, using her nickname for him. The man looked down at the girl and smiled before handing his son the money necessary to purchase the dog._

_"You know dogs are a lot of responsibility," he warned before Leon and Ada trotted into the shop. _

_"Yeah but John got a snake so I want something to protect from it," Leon replied before taking Ada's hand and walking into the shop._

_The puppies exploded into noise as the two ten year olds walked up to the counter. The man standing behind it looked at them silently._

_"We want the sad faced puppy," Ada said, pointing to the dog. The man nodded pleasantly and walked over to the cage. He lifted the sad faced animal out and walked back over to the two._

_"This here is a bloodhound English mastiff mix. He's going to get big," the man warned. "Would you guys like to see how well he plays?" They, of course, nodded and he led them over to a fenced in area. He set the bloodhound mix down in the area and let the duo climb in as well._

_Leon watched as Ada sat in front of the dog and let it sniff at her curiously. "I hope it sneezes on you," he said, joining her where she sat. Ada shot him a dirty look when the puppy smashed into the boy's chest, nearly knocking him back. _

_Ada giggled before she said, "Oh, he's definitely a keeper._

Leon rested his hand on Buddy's head, swallowing thickly as he thought about his friend.

_What have I done…?_

---

Ada lay on her bed, Mörder running around her as if he was trying to make her happier. The present lay forgotten on Mörder's cage, the corner ripped where the mouse had tried nibbling on it.

Ada wasn't certain why things had to go so wrong, so fast. She'd noticed the look on his face when he'd first seen her that night, clad in a gown she hated. She'd liked being looked at by him. And although she liked the fact that they'd kissed, she wasn't certain what to think about it.

She loved him as more than a friend. But it was possible he didn't reciprocate those feelings and he'd just reacted to the kiss in the only way he knew how, by kissing back.

She rolled onto her back, letting a tear trickle down her cheek. Everything went so wrong, so fast. Nicholai, Leon, Aiden…

_Aiden…_

That brought back too many memories… She rolled onto her right side, letting Mörder curl up against her throat and a sob escaped her. Her boyfriend, her best friend, her brother. All three of them. Things went wrong.

She looked around the room and her eyes landed on the present. She reached out and grabbed it. It was obviously jewelry of some sort. She gently tore the rest of the paper off, letting Mörder have it. The mouse gnawed on the paper as she opened the small box, revealing a necklace.

And the sight of the necklace made her cry more.

---

"Why does Ada hate cigarettes so much?" Chris asked as Leon, clad in his black leather jacket, walked past him. The blond planned on going over to Ada's. They needed to talk about what had happened.

But as the question exited Chris' lips, the blond snapped around to face him. "What?" he asked, confused.

"When she saw me out there, she looked like she was about to break my neck for smoking," Chris said with a shrug.

_…Nobody knows except me… They wanted it that way… They just wanted things to fade away with time…_

"That's not something I'm going to tell you. Ada will speak of it when she wants," Leon said, starting for the door. Chris walked after him, apparently expecting more out of the younger teen.

"So then something is wrong," Chris said, shoving his hands into his pockets as they walked out of the house. "Come on, man. I just wanted to apologize to her. It's only fair, right? I hurt her feelings so I should apologize."

Leon stopped and turned to face the other boy, glad they were about the same height. "Sounds more like you want to date her, if you ask me," the blond snarled.

Chris looked at him for a second before he asked, "And if I do? You shouldn't have any problems with it. It's not like you two are dating or anything like that."

"And Jill?"

"What about her? She still treats me like I'm some kind of toy to mess around with. Hell, I might hate Oliveira but even I don't agree with what she seems to want to do," Chris said with a shrug.

"Jill's not like that," Leon said stiffly.

"Nope. I didn't think so either. But she sure as hell is acting like it. Now, why does Ada hate cigarettes?"

---

_**I just thought I ought to tell you that you can be assured I didn't forget him. I know Christmas is the time of happiness but I also know you're still hurting from what happened. And I know you hate that your parents just act like he never exited. I miss him too, Red. Trust me.**_

Ada read the little note several times over, a sad smile on her lips as she read it. She knew Leon missed him too. They didn't speak of it but she saw it in his eyes every time she brought Jeong out to the park with her. Jeong wasn't hers but she'd promised that she would take care of him.

Looking at the emerald and ruby necklace, more tears spilled down her face. Now all the necklace needed to be perfect was a sapphire in the middle.

Her phone went off, the small screen lighting up her dark room as it rang. She reached out and checked who it was. Leon. Biting her lip, Ada flicked the phone open and held it to her ear before saying hello.

"You mind if I come in your room. It's freaking cold out here," Leon said, sounding rather out of breath. She frowned and then realization hit her. Hard.

"What are you doing out there, Leon?" she asked, sitting up and crawling to her window to open it.

"I'm insane and you like it," he replied, waving to her from her front yard.

"Get up here, moron," she laughed, moving away from the window. It only took him a few minutes to get up into the tree house and into her room. As soon as he was, she moved and closed the window.

Snow dotted his dirty blond hair and his jacket as well but otherwise he looked fine. He snapped the cell phone shut and gave her a grateful look. "And here I was, thinking you were going to let me die," he teased.

"You're an idiot," she replied, setting her phone on her dresser and motioning for Leon to sit down. She placed Mörder, and the wrapping paper, in the cage and set the necklace and its box next to the cage.

"I've been called worse," he stated, shifting his shoulders up in a shrug. She rolled her eyes and in that moment, it felt like the kiss had never happened. But then they fell into an odd silence and she knew he was thinking about it too. But she wanted to talk about something else.

"I miss him…" she mumbled. He looked at her, his pale eyes sad. "And you're right…I hate how my parents act like he was never even born… Or how you and Gran are the only ones who will talk to me about him. I hate how nobody knows…"

He moved closer to her and in an instant she was laying against his chest, tears spilling down her face. His arms wrapped protectively around her, the way they had those years ago.

"Why does everything have to go wrong?" she whimpered, pulling away from him and using her sweater sleeves to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Nicholai was a failure… Aiden… You…"

"Me?" he asked. She froze but she had to meet his eyes. He looked at her with confused eyes but he knew. He always knew. "Not everything does Ada…"

"Almost! It would be my luck that my first, only, boyfriend was a psychopath. And Aiden… What happened to him was a fluke! A once in a lifetime chance. And he just happened to be my baby brother. And us… What about us?" she stammered, more tears welling in her eyes.

He looked away from her, apparently unable to hold her eyes. He hated to see her cry, she knew that. But this time, it was something else. Something different.

"Leon… Just…tell me the truth," she said. She had to know. "Do you love me?"

---

There were two ways to answer that question. One way was to play stupid. Say that he did love her because they were best friends and best friends love each other. Leon would deem himself a coward if he did that. And the other way was to simply come clean. To tell her he did love her. That he loved her as more than a friend. To tell her the truth.  
He looked at her, the tears in her eyes making his heart clench, and he nodded. She held his gaze for a little while longer before she dropped her head into her hands and silently cried, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. He would've comforted her but he didn't think he could.

_What would I say? I'm sorry, Ada, that you just found out your best friend is in love with you and that said best friend about died when you two stopped kissing in his house. Oh, and you want to know some fun trivia about this friend of yours? The only reason he found out he loves you is because he talked to some psychiatrist that scared the crap out of him and, you know, your best friend is basically a coward._

He looked at the ground and then said, "Ada… I have to go home… Before my mom notices that I'm gone… I'm..I'm sorry."

She didn't respond so he stood from the bed and went to the window, which he opened and climbed out of. Standing on the ledge under her window, he turned to the pane of glass and closed it. Then, with a skill built by a fourteen year friendship, he climbed into the tree and moved around so he could jump onto the ground. He hit the frozen earth quietly and started for home.

Leon walked along the frozen road, his head low, and his heart hurt. That fourteen year relationship he loved so much seemed to have just been crushed by a simple nod of the head.

He just hoped that Ada didn't absolutely hate him, even though she had every reason in the world to.

---

Ada watched Leon walk home, her eyes bloodshot from crying. She wanted to call him back and tell him that she loved him and that she didn't want him to think he did something wrong by nodding that he loved her but she couldn't find the courage to call him. She had a bad feeling...no, she knew, Leon thought she hated him because he'd told her.

"Mörder," she whispered. The mouse looked at her curiously. "What have I done?"

A/N: Wow, this was a depressing chapter… Sorry guys… I wanted to make a happy chapter but come on; the awkwardness is too good to pass up… So, the truth is out and Ada couldn't respond. And Aiden… What kind of a secret is Ada harboring about her little brother? And why has nobody heard of this little brother before?! Hm… I'll try and update today or tomorrow, so you guys don't have to hate me too much. And for those of you who care… Yes, it will be fluffy. (By the way, I'm keeping the answer to yesterday's question a secret. Sorry. It's necessary.)


	10. Kissing in a Tree

More Than A Feeling

"Where were you last night, Leon? You didn't even open your gift from Ada," Josephine said as Leon trudged into the house, his jacket dripping slightly from the melted snow that ran down its sides. He didn't even look up at his mother nor did he grab the pile of gifts sitting on the couch with his name on them. He just jogged up the stairs, walked down the hall, and entered the relative safety that was his bedroom.

"Last thing I want to hear about right now, is Ada," he grumbled bitterly, tossing his jacket to the floor. Buddy hardly lifted his head to look at the teen and Leon wanted to laugh.

He didn't want to hear about Ada but she was all he was thinking about. Because he'd just found something out. Something that hurt worse than everything he'd ever come up against.

---A Few Hours Earlier---

"Leon, help me take these over to your girlfriend's house," Leon's father called, startling the teen out of sleep. The blond lifted himself off the couch before he realized what his father had called Ada.

"Please don't call her that," he grumbled as he pulled his jacket on. The dark haired man cast his son a confused look. Typically, the boy just accepted the name his father had given Ada. Never before had Leon reacted like that.

The ride over to Ada's house was silent. Only the constant drone of Christmas music from the radio kept them from hearing the grumble of the engine of the 1976 Mustang. Both father and son stared out over the road, brooding in their own thoughts.

_I should've just said no. Or stuck with the simple way. I should've just said that I love her as a friend and nothing more. Not like I did… I shouldn't-_

"Hey, get out of your dream world and help me out here," his father ordered. The blond teen climbed out of the car and followed him around to the trunk of the car, where the Christmas presents from the Kennedy, including Leon's mother's side, family to the Wong family.

It was another habit that the two families had performed. But the Wong family wasn't doing so great. Funeral and hospital bills had drained the once pleasant family of its money and Leon knew that Ada's father was having troubles keeping his family strong. That's why they, Leon's family, hadn't gotten a gift from Ada's family for nearly four years.

_…No… Not four. More like three. He saw us into high school. I remember that much._

"Oh, Lee. Leon. I'm glad to see you both," Ada's father said, walking out of his house. Leon offered him a faint smile in return while his father reached out to shake the other man's hand.

"Yeah, we almost didn't make it since this one decided he was going to try and sleep in," Leon's father said.

"No problem. I think Ada's still asleep… Which is weird… That girl hasn't slept in since she was four years old," Mr. Wong pointed out, scratching his chin. He shook the thoughts away and looked at Leon. "Why don't you take those out back for me, Leon?"

The blond nodded his okay and lifted up the pile of boxes and other things to carry around to the backyard. Jeong was hiding in his doghouse, only noticeable by his breath that plumed out every now and then. The house didn't have a fence to block the dog but Jeong knew better than to run away.

Leon set the pile of presents on the table and walked back around to the front of the house. He made it to the corner, right before the backyard turned into the front yard, when he heard his father speaking.

"Is Ada okay?" the man asked, his deeper voice separating him from Mr. Wong.

"I don't know. Last night she came home early, went to bed, and didn't come back down. It's…odd, to say the least. And then this morning… I don't think she's sleeping in. Then again, she could just be upset with us. I mean Andrea and I," the other man replied. Leon moved to the corner of the house, letting his back press up against the wall of the building.

"Why? You guys get into a fight or something?"

"No… We… Well, Spencer heard Ada playing the piano. I'm certain Leon spoke of it." There was a pause and Leon guessed his father was nodding. "Spencer liked her music. A lot. Enough to get her something that…well…to say the least made us very happy."

"What?"

"A scholarship into a German university for music and art."

Leon froze, his chest constricting as he remembered Ada standing in the archway after speaking to whoever was at the door. He couldn't believe she wouldn't say anything about the scholarship.

_I didn't tell her about New York. Why should she have to tell me about Germany?_

"Damn… That's great. But… She didn't want to go, did she?"

"We haven't gotten the chance to speak to her. But this morning, Spencer dropped off some paper work and… She must've accepted it. Why else would it have been left there?"

"Well, that is a pretty big deal. …Maybe that's why Leon was so upset this morning."

"He was?"

"Kinda yeah. But… I think it's also because Leon's mother went behind his back and sent a letter to a university in New York. And Leon was offered a scholarship to that university because of his mother's letter."

"That's a good thing though."

"I don't think they think that it-"

Leon walked out from where he was hiding, casting a glance at the two dark haired men. "We should go before Mom sends a rescue party after me," he mumbled. Lee nodded and the two walked to the car. Leon ignored the sad look Ada's father was giving him.

_New York… Here I come._

---Present---

_"I'm just saying, there's no such things as haunted houses," Ada defiantly said to the two boys following her. The blond boy shrugged but their younger companion, a black haired boy no older than eleven at max, was shaking._

_"I don't understand why we can't bring Jeong or Buddy with us," Aiden said stiffly, looking at his older sister who rolled her eyes at him._

_"Only a baby needs Jeong or Buddy. They'd be more scared than us if it is haunted," she scoffed, flicking some hair behind her ear._

_"We'll protect you, Aiden," Leon promised, patting the young boy on the shoulder. "We're teenagers now and according to Ada, there's nothing we can't do."_

_"You guys can't get married," Aiden pointed out._

_"Why would we want to?" Ada snapped, turning on her brother. Leon reddened slightly and looked away from the two._

_"Because! You guys are obviously meant to be," the black haired boy said. "Leon and Ada, sitting in a tree. K-I-"_

_Ada tackled her brother to the ground, holding him down by the shoulders. "Just for that, you're going in first." Aiden's eyes widened in horror._

_"Please no, Ada! I won't tease you anymore! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! I swear," he cried as his sister held onto his shoulders and dragged him to his feet. She noticed that his shoulders felt eerily thin and she released him, letting him fall back onto his tailbone. He yelped out in pain. Leon rested his hand on Ada's shoulder, giving her a concerned look._

_"Ada?" he asked. She stared blankly at her brother. He wasn't supposed to be that thin. "Ada, wake up." Wake up? She wasn't asleep. "Ada, you have to wake-"_

"-up."

That wasn't Leon's voice.

"Ada, if you don't wake up…" her grandmother started, trailing off. Ada pushed the old woman's hand away from her shoulders and lifted herself into a sitting position.

"I'm up," she groaned, rubbing at her eyes angrily.

"I should… Are you wearing your dress?" her grandmother asked, staring at the young woman's attire.

Ada had indeed fallen asleep in her dress but how was she supposed to explain to her grandmother that she'd also only fallen asleep two hours ago and that she'd spent the entire night crying and trying to come up with ways to talk to Leon.

"Yes… I didn't have a good night," she mumbled. The old woman looked at the necklace lying next to Mörder's cage and a look of sadness filled her eyes.

"Memories are sometimes the best and sometimes the worst things that could ever happen to us," the woman said softly. "Aiden was a good boy. He didn't deserve what happened to him."

Ada looked away, remembering what Leon had said to her all those years ago. After the days in the hospital, listening to the doctors say there was no hope, the blond teen had learned to dislike her family.

_"I loved your brother like he was _my _brother, Ada… But if I had to choose between him and you… I'd choose for you to live any day… And so would he. You can't blame yourself for what happened. And he didn't either."_

_"My parents do. My grandfather does."_

_"Then they're morons. It wasn't your fault. Neither of us knew."_

_"I shouldn't have made him go in there."_

_"I helped too, you know. I was the one who convinced him to go in."_

_"I wish they'd burn that place down."_

_"Me too…"_

"What's wrong, Ada?" her grandmother asked. The black haired teen stood from her bed and grabbed her boots.

"I have to talk to somebody."

---

Leon threw his baseball into the air and caught it with one hand. He would've thrown his football around but he didn't want to bother with it. He would be playing football as soon as school started again. He didn't want to start thinking about it until then.

He was walking through the forest that touched Raccoon's outskirts, one of the most peaceful places in the city. Raccoon City was well recognized for having just about everything, from forests to lakes. He and Ada knew the city by heart by the age of nine. Aiden did too.

"Why didn't you tell me about Germany?" he asked aloud, thinking about what he'd heard her father say. "Why wouldn't you?"

"Because I was afraid…"

He jumped slightly before turning to see her standing against a tree, still in her dress and sweater from the party, but wearing boots and having messy hair.

"I was so afraid of how you'd react… But… You didn't tell me either," she remarked, walking to him. Her breath plumed out as white fog and she held her arms tightly. Leon shed his jacket and wrapped it protectively around her shoulders, revealing his black long sleeved shirt. She gratefully held onto the jacket, apparently happy for the warmth.

"How did you find out about New York?" he asked, looking down at her.

With a smile, Ada replied, "Probably the same way you found out about Germany. Our fathers need to learn how to keep their mouths shut." He gave her a weak smile but he couldn't bring himself to say much more. So, she continued. "That's what's been wrong with you, right?" she asked.

"That and the fact that my mom made me see a psychiatrist, who in turn made me have a life changing revelation," he replied. "You know. All the good stuff. Oh, and now you can add the fact that my best friend is leaving to go to a foreign country and Carlos is being screwed over and Nicholai is back…"

_Oh shit…_

Ada's eyes widened. "Nicholai is what?"

"…He's…in my P.E. class," Leon explained. She stared at him in horror. "That day I stayed behind to ask my coach something… I asked him why Nicholai was in the class. Turns out the Vladimir and Ginovaef families are very close… Vladimir helped get Nicholai out of Juvie."

She looked, for a second, even more scared. But then it vanished and an impassive expression found its place on her face. "Great. Has he bothered you?"

"No. He kind of avoids being seen by the rest of the class. Everybody knows and I think he's afraid of us. …Or more like I should say, afraid of Chris," Leon explained, a bitter tone filling his voice as he spoke the last part. He looked at her, taking in her stunning green eyes and her raven colored hair.

"Leon…" Ada started when the blond teen pulled her into his arms, for no reason, and kissed her.

---6 Years Ago---

"Leon and Ada, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!" Aiden laughed, his black hair falling into his face. Both Leon and Ada looked down at him bitterly from their post in the tree house.

"Shut up, you little brat!" Ada barked. He grinned up at her.

"Never!" he laughed. Ada rolled her eyes but before she could say anything, Aiden laughed, "I dare you to kiss Leon."

Both twelve year olds looked at each other in shock but Ada never backed down from a dare. She glanced down at her brother before she asked Leon, "Do you mind?"

"Not really."

She moved closer to him and as Aiden climbed the tree to see, she pressed her lips to her best friend's. All the while her little brother continued his song, though this time he was telling the truth.

A/N: Okay, so I was wrong about the fluff thing. I'm sorry guys. I mean, there's kinda fluff. (That's what I get for writing this after playing Silent Hill Homecoming.) But yeah, I'm trying to delve into Ada's past and go into what happened to her little brother. If you guys don't mind, I'll continue asking questions. Like here's one: Why did Leon let Ada kiss him in the tree house? Not really a great question, but oh well. Also, I'd like to hear some guesses onto what exactly happened to Aiden. (Just for the hell of it.)


	11. Tale of her Brother

More Than A Feeling

A/N: Everybody's answers were very close to the real answers so congratulations, everyone. You're all really good at this. Anyway, I wanted to warn you. This chapter's kinda odd. So, in this chapter and this one only (unless I warn you beforehand), the italics are something that happened in the past (no thoughts in this chapter) and the normal font is what is going on in the present.

_Leon managed to convince Aiden to go into the house with them. The trio walked into the huge mansion, their shoes slapping the old wood rather loudly. Ada led the way, her raven hair catching the faint beams of light that spilled down from the ceiling. Leon watched her curiously, wondering why she'd let go of her brother the way she had. _

_The blond boy jogged forward to walk side-by-side with his best friend, his blue eyes concerned as he looked at her silent, fearful, face. _

_"Ada… What's wrong? Why did you let go of Aiden like that? He could've gotten hurt," Leon said softly, gripping her shoulder with one hand._

_"I know… My parents would've made me listen to a list of medical problems that could've happened when he fell back and landed on his tailbone. He's fine, Leon," Ada snapped in response. The blond teen gave her a look of disbelief. Ada never snapped at him._

_"Okay… I'll just leave you alone then," he mumbled. Ada gave him a panicked look in a split second._

_"No, don't," she begged, grabbing onto his wrist. "Don't leave me alone… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, Leon."_

"So, Leon, how have you been since we last met?" Mr. X asked, looking at the young teen from where he sat perched in his leather chair. Leon shot him a look, wondering if he'd get in trouble for telling the man to screw off.

"Fine," the teen responded curtly, looking up at the ceiling. It had been a week since he kissed Ada in the woods. He hadn't seen her since then. And tomorrow was the first day of their last semester in high school. Then, New York for him and Germany for her.

"You don't seem fine. How have things been at home?" the man asked, jotting down notes.

"That's not what you want to ask me," Leon said gruffly, looking over at the man.

"You're right. But I have to follow protocol. And that means asking you family questions and then personal questions."

Leon sighed before responding, "Everything's fine. My sister's parrot attacked me yesterday so I got pissed at her but everything's fine."

"Okay, now for the questions that I want to ask. And that you apparently want to answer."

"What?"

"I'm guessing you want somebody to talk to about this."

"My family doesn't understand," Leon tried to explain. For a second, he struggled to find the right words before he simply said, "They just don't understand us…"

"I see… How is Ada?"

"I don't know. I haven't spoken to her in a week," Leon started.

"Why?"

"Because I'm an idiot…"

"What happened?"

"We kissed. On Christmas Eve. And then Christmas… I kissed her. And then we kinda just went home on our own…."

"What happened on Christmas Eve?"

"Aren't you going to… You know what, I don't care. On Christmas Eve… She talked to somebody… I found out later it was Spen- Mr. Spencer offering her a scholarship to a German university for music or something like that. Well, when I found Ada… She was in the archway that leads to my kitchen."

Before Leon could continue, Mr. X asked, "This was in your house?"

"My mom was throwing a Christmas party," Leon explained. Mr. X gave him the go ahead and Leon continued, "Well, we kinda stood in the archway together and then we kissed."

"Neither of you initiated the kiss?"

"I might've… I can't honestly remember…"

"Hm… Okay, what happened afterwards?"

"Ada went home. She kinda just left… So, I followed her later. I just wanted to apologize. But when I went into her room… Things just got out of hand… Not that way, though. We started talking. And she said she was a failure at everything. At me, her ex, and Aiden…"

"Ex? Aiden?"

"Nicholai. I'm certain you've heard of Raccoon's very own psychopath teenager who attacked his girlfriend. Ada was that girlfriend. I gave the newspapers my college money to keep her name out of everything: magazines, newspapers, TV broadcasts."

"Did she know that?"

Leon simply nodded, remembering when he did that for her. How she'd pressed herself to his chest and mumbled thank you over and over. She didn't want to be viewed by the press as a little girl who made a mistake. So, Leon made sure they didn't say anything about her at all.

"That was very valiant."

"She hated herself for a little while. She said that she'd ruined my chances at going to college. I just told her I'd have to work another summer before I could get the money back up again."

"Again, very valiant. Okay… Aiden?"

"I don't think I can tell you about him."

"Why not?"

"Because I promised her family I'd never tell anybody about him."

"I'm a psychiatrist. The only time I can use this against you is in a court and that's not going to happen. Tell me Leon."

Leon sighed, feeling as if a thousand burdens had just been placed on his shoulders. "He was Ada's little brother… You know those stories where one sibling is loved and the other is hated?" Mr. X nodded. "Well, Aiden was adored by his parents. Ada was ignored. I think that's what made us so close. My home was being torn apart by my parents, who couldn't agree on anything. She was alone, second to her brother in her parent's eyes. Her grandfather viewed Aiden like a god because he, Aiden I mean, looked more Chinese then his sister. Her grandmother was the only one who showed both of them equal love. Well, I showed her more love than I showed her brother. So, she held onto me."

"Is that the only reason?"

"You mean why we're friends? No, of course not. But that is the reason we're so close. I was the first person to ever understand why Ada Wong is so secluded. I was the first to break through her barriers, the ones she'd set up against the world.

"Anyway… When we were thirteen…everything went downhill… Aiden was 10, three years younger than Ada and I. You know the Spencer Estate? The one in the forest I mean. Ada and I used that place as our safe haven from Aiden, from my parents, from life. It had an old piano that we played. We loved hanging out in there. It was somewhere we could be ourselves… Well…Aiden was a gutsy kid and he asked us if he could come with us to the mansion one day."

"Had he ever gone with you two before?"

"No. We only spoke of it around him on accident. Well, we agreed to take him but it had to be at night. His parents would notice him missing. So, we went to the mansion at around ten that night. About halfway through the woods, he started panicking, saying he wanted to go back and that he didn't want to go into the mansion. We didn't listen. We both convinced him to continue through to the house.

"When we got to the mansion…he started to panic again. Well, he said something about me and Ada and she tackled him because of it. When she started to drag him to his feet, because she was going to make him go in first, something spooked her and she let him fall back."

"What was it?"

"His shoulders were too thin. Nobody noticed it… I guess it's because he was a thin kid but she knew."

"Something was wrong with him?"

"…Very…"

"Sickness?"

"…Yeah…"

"Continue, please."

"Well, I convinced him to go into the house and we were walking when Ada snapped at me. I should've known. I should've convinced her to turn around and we should've left. But I didn't…."

_Ada led the way, taking the stairs two at a time. She stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to wait for the boys._

_"You want to go up first, Aiden?" Leon asked, waving a hand at the stairs. The small boy shook his head violently._

_"Scared, Aiden?" Ada teased, her hands on her hips. Aiden looked up angrily and started up the stairs. Leon waited for a little while before joining him. _

_About halfway up the steps, Aiden stopped and started coughing, violently. Very violently. Ada's eyes widened and Leon raced up the steps to grab the boy before he toppled backwards. Ada started down the stairs to get to her brother when Aiden started in Leon's arms and shoved the older boy backwards with a strength he shouldn't have possessed._

_The blond lost his footing, falling back to the floor at the base of the stairs. He heard his head hit the wood floor with a sickening smacking noise and things started doubling. He heard Ada, far off, trying to calm her brother. When that didn't work, and Leon's vision started to return, Ada tried grabbing her brother. But the black haired boy grabbed his sister's arm, nearly snapping her forearm. _

_However, Ada reacted, like any panicked animal would, and struck out. Her fist caught her brother's jaw and knocked him off balance, forcing him to stumble off the stairs, and making him land next to Leon. The blond heard another sickening smack and he lifted himself up, only to have Ada rush to his side and throw herself into his arms._

_"Leon, I…I had to..I didn't…I," she tried, tears falling from her face. The blond teen gripped her to his chest, breathing that he knew she hadn't had a choice. _

"Good Lord," Mr. X breathed as Leon finished his explanation.

"It wasn't her fault," Leon tried to explain.

"I don't blame her, Leon. I promise you that. What was wrong with Aiden?"

"Allergies. Would you believe that? The doctor's said that he had bad allergies and that something in the house set them off. The fight or flight instinct kicked in and forced him to try and escape in any way possible, even if it meant attacking those he held dear."

"It was a form of weak psychosis?"

"Yeah, I think that's what they said." Leon took a bit of a break, breathing in slowly. "Ada… God, she was devastated. The doctor's told her that she reacted the way anybody would. But her parents…God, her parents…"

_"Why did you do that?!" Ada's father roared at the girl who cowered before him. Leon stepped up, fury lining his young face._

_"She didn't have a choice!! Maybe if you'd listened to the doctor instead of treating Ada like she was nothing more than a doll for her brother to mess with, you'd know that! Aiden attacked her! It was either she fights back or she gets hurt and she fought back!" Leon shouted in response. The Chinese man's eyes narrowed in fury at Leon's outburst but Lee stepped up to defend his son._

_"He's right, Li. You don't need to take it out on Ada."_

_As the two men spoke, Leon knelt down next to Ada, who was sitting with her knees to her chest. He pulled her into his arms, resting his head against hers. He didn't want her to think it was her fault but nothing was going to change her mind. Not right now at least._

_"Mr. Wong?" a soft spoken man asked. Everybody looked up silently, fearing the worst. "Your son's head is fine…"_

_"Thank God," the man started. But the look on the doctor's face shut him up._

_"But… We found out…he has lung cancer."_

_"Jesus," Lee breathed. Ada bit back a sob and buried her face into Leon's shirt._

_"How? He never smoked?" Li started. Leon felt Ada tense up against his chest. _

_"Smoking is not the only thing that causes lung cancer, Mr. Wong," the doctor said softly_

_"What about the thing he threw the reaction to?" Lee asked._

_"No… That was just a mold found in old houses. It's highly unlikely that it caused the cancer. And the kids said he'd only gone in once. That's not enough to get him sick anyway."_

_Li suddenly looked at Leon and Ada, his eyes focusing on his daughter. "What if somebody else smoked around him?"_

_"Well, of course there's the chance of second-hand smoke inhalation but as I said-"_

_"Ada, look at me," the man ordered. Leon felt fury rising again._

_"She doesn't smoke," Leon barked angrily._

_"I didn't ask you."_

_"I'm telling you! Aiden-"_

_"Don't try to blame him for something his sister did!" Mr. Wong growled. Lee stepped between them suddenly, his fists clenched at his sides._

_"Leon, Ada, go to the car. I'll take you both home. Li, you need to calm down."_

_Leon gently lifted his friend to her feet and led her away from her father and Lee. The blond boy was clenching his jaw tight enough to make his gums bleed._

"Why did he blame her?"

"They hated the fact that their perfect son was dying and that Ada was alive. And she blamed herself. She thought they were right. She thought she should've died, not Aiden."

"He was incurable?"

"He caused himself to die…"

"What?"

"He did smoke. And he did a lot of bad things that Ada and I kept quiet. His parents thought he was perfect. Ada and I kept that image up for him. When he'd come home smelling like smoke, Ada made sure to stay close to him, so it seemed like she was the one who smoked. When he drank, she made sure he brushed his teeth several times over and then she'd take the bottles and put them in her room."

"My God… He was…"

"A brat? An idiot? A kid? Yeah, all of those. And Ada… God, why did she cover up for him?"

"She loved him."

"We both did. He was a great kid if not too stupid to realize that drugs and alcohol are bad for you," Leon said sadly. "But Ada… She actually had her room… Jesus…"

"What?"

"Her parents made a detective search her room. They found the bottles but at that time my dad was still Chief of Police. He made them check DNA on the bottles and they proved Aiden drank. But the thing that really condemned him…something even we didn't know about. He hid drugs, not like tobacco but actual drugs, under his mattress. I think it broke Ada's heart because she always viewed him with such adoring love it was ridiculous. She loved her little brother. And then he went and did drugs, ruined his life…"

"He did the drugs? Did the doctors find them in his system?"

"He was too far gone with the cancer for anybody to care. They did the tests but they didn't want to tell his family. The doctor who'd witnessed her father yelling at her told everybody else to spare the family of the details about the drug tests."

"That's terrible… Ada… Did she get in trouble for hiding the beer bottles?"

"No. My dad made sure of that."

"Aiden?"

"Died our freshmen year. He turned eleven, lived a week into his eleventh year, and died in his sleep. Nobody knew."

"Why?"

"Her parents acted like Aiden never existed… He was home-schooled so nobody really knew him. He vanished with time. And as the years went, Ada's parents acted more and more like he was never born. They gave Ada a little more attention but her father never forgave her."

"She blames herself?"

"Yeah. She thinks she could've made him give up smoking instead of covering up for him. I don't think so…"

"You really cared for her."

"I always loved her… I mean, ever since I was twelve I knew I loved her… She kissed me because Aiden dared her to and I liked it, even though I was supposed to think girls were gross… I hated how everybody in her family except her grandmother treated her like it was her fault Aiden died. Hew grandfather never got over it. Her mother can hardly converse with her. Her father acts like she doesn't exist. It's just me, her grandmother, and her mouse."

"Mouse?"

"Both of our families bought all of the children pets. I got a dog, one of my sisters got a tarantula, the other got a cat and a parrot, my brother got a snake, Aiden got a dog, and Ada got a mouse. See, her parents didn't really give them the opportunity to pick a pet. So… You see where I'm going with this?"

"They bought him a dog but her a mouse? I see where you're going with it."

"Yeah… I think the session is done… Um… I never said any of this, right?" Leon asked, standing up. Mr. X smiled and made a zipper motion over his lips. Leon smiled thankfully and headed for the door.

"Leon," Mr. X said before the teen could walk through the door. He looked back at the big man. "Keep her safe, okay? Love like what you've got for her is rare. Keep it strong."

The teen smiled weakly and nodded again. Those had been the best words of advice he'd gotten in a long time.


	12. Not Your Fault

More Than A Feeling

School was going to be difficult. Ada could already feel it. She'd gotten a ride to school from Chris, who was now speaking to her about something she couldn't get interested in. She was more interested in why Leon wasn't there yet.

He was never late. Never tardy. And she always knew when he was sick. So, where was he? Was something wrong? They hadn't spoken to each other in a week and she feared that something had happened and his family hadn't told her. It wouldn't be the first time.

But they also knew to tell her if something really bad happened to him. And they hadn't called or anything. So, she found herself worrying over him as the rest of the class filed into Goldman's room to get their new schedules.

"Ada, are you okay?" Jill asked, waving a hand in front of the other teens face.

"What? What do you mean?" she asked. "I'm waiting for my schedule."

_Where did Chris disappear to? Am I that out of it?_

"…You don't know?" Jill asked. Ada froze. Typically when somebody said that, they had bad news. She stared at the brunette, waiting for her explanation. "…Leon and Nicholai got into a fight…"

"What?" Ada asked, her eyes widening with horror. After Leon had told her about Nicholai's return to the school, she'd been waiting for a confrontation with the Russian. But the confrontation had never come. So, still on alert, Ada had moved on with other things. Like when Leon had kissed her in the forest. And when they'd pulled apart, she remembered wanting to kiss him but somebody was calling her name. So, she'd left.

"I thought somebody would've told you… They got into a fight. Nicholai just attacked Leon out of nowhere. They're both in the hospital…" Jill explained. Ada swallowed before she started out of the classroom.

"Get Leon's schedule for me. And mine too," she said over her shoulder, before exiting the class. Not much would stop her from getting to the hospital.

---

"Getting into fights, Leon?" a deep voice asked. Leon lifted his head, groggy from the painkillers they'd given him, and saw a huge man in front of him. It was his psychiatrist.

"What are you doing here?" Leon asked, flinching at the way his jaw felt as he spoke.

"Your mother called. She wants me to talk to you. But the doctors said you didn't initiate the fight so I can't really tell you off about what happened. What did happen?" Mr. X asked, pulling up a chair to sit down in. Leon laid back down on the bed, almost feeling like he was in the psychiatrist's office and not the hospital.

"I was walking to school because I missed the bus and Nicholai just jumped me. Nothing really happened. I've been waiting for him to get his revenge on me for a long time. I'm just glad he didn't go after Ada… Are they putting him in Juvie?" Leon mumbled, running the tips of his fingers against his sore jaw.

"I'm not certain. Ada… Is she okay?"

"I don't know… I still haven't spoken to her. …Why are you here? You're my psychiatrist not my friend…" Leon grumbled, casting the man a confused look.

"You mean why am I still here? Well, I simply wanted to make sure you were alright. And to get to the bottom of the fight. I'll speak to you later, Leon," Mr. X said, standing. He walked away without waiting for a good-bye from the teen.

---

Ada walked through the halls towards the room the nurses had said Leon would be in. She walked past a huge man, who gave her a small nod which she returned. Something about him made her feel odd but she didn't bother trying to make sense of her emotions. She saw Leon's room and then she spotted Leon through the glass panel that basically served as the wall.

Leon was sitting up in his bed, rotating the remote for the small TV in his hands. She noticed how roughed up he looked; his hair messy, the left sleeve of his T-shirt ripped open, and however many bruises he would start to have. She frowned and entered the room silently.

He looked up immediately and shock found its way onto his face. She just smiled weakly and closed the door. For a moment, nothing was said. They just watched each other cautiously, like one would watch a stray dog. But Ada built up the courage to speak.

"You okay?" she asked, inwardly flinching at how stupid the question was.

He smiled uncertainly, stating, "Painkillers got rid of all the pain. I must look like hell though."

"Only your hair," she assured, her voice quaking slightly as anxiety started to grip her in its clutches. He laughed softly and fell back onto the pillow. She sat down in the chair closest to the door, ready to bolt if necessary. "What happened?"

"Everybody going to ask me that? Nicholai jumped me as I was walking through the parking lot. The end," Leon said stiffly. She heard anger in his voice and confusion replaced her apprehension. Was he mad at Nicholai? The constant questioning? Or her?

"I'm sorry," she offered weakly.

"For what? You didn't do anything," Leon pointed out calmly.

"Nicholai hates you because of me and if I'd just never given you more thought than him, he wouldn't-"

Leon cut her off, sitting up in bed suddenly and asking, "Why do you always blame yourself?"

"It was my fault," she replied.

"No, it wasn't your fault he attacked me. It was my fault. I left myself open. You think I would've rather you stayed with an asshole like him than me get roughed up a bit? For God's sake Ada, I'm more than willing to protect you. I'd take a bullet for you if I had the chance. I don't want you hurt," Leon said angrily, shaking his head at her.

"Well, if I had just not agreed to date him…" she started but again Leon cut her off before she could continue.

"You didn't know. It wasn't your fault. Have you parents forced you into believing everything that goes wrong is your fault? It's not, okay? Nicholai wasn't, this whole situation wasn't, and Aiden sure as hell wasn't either," Leon snapped. His attitude was startling and Ada felt herself slowly growing infuriated and scared at the same time.

"We agreed not to talk about Aiden," Ada whispered.

"You can't avoid talking about him forever. You told me yourself you were pissed that your parents act like he didn't exist. Are you not doing the same? Why can't you talk about him? It was his fault he died, not yours!" he barked angrily.

"Shut up!" she snapped, standing and walking to the foot of his bed. The fury she felt was foreign and she didn't like it. "Aiden was a kid. He wasn't at fault!"

"But you were? We were only thirteen. We didn't understand a damn thing!" he argued.

"Had I not made him go into that house, he might've lived!" she cried, standing about a foot away from him.

"He died from cancer, Ada. Not allergies! The house only helped the doctors find the cancer. You helped him. You saved him from a terrible death. And you just can't admit it."

"Just shut up," she snarled.

"Why? Because you can't accept that you're a better person than you give yourself credit for? Because you can't accept that your brother murdered himself, not you?" he asked coldly. And she slapped him. But as soon as her mind registered what she'd done, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Leon…" she whimpered, tears building in her eyes. "I'm…"

"Just go," he mumbled, lifting his hand to his face. She couldn't believe herself.

"I-" she tried. But he looked up at her, his blue eyes begging her to leave. So, she did.

---

"When I was last in here, you didn't have that mark on your face," Mr. X said, pointing to the red splotch on Leon's left cheek. The blond teen shot him a dirty look and Mr. X raised his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Well, I don't even know what I did but whatever it was, I didn't mean it."

"Ada slapped me," Leon mumbled finally. He remembered the pain in her eyes afterwards, the way she'd looked about to break down but she hadn't.

_Would it have made a difference? Would I have not been so cold?_

"Really… Why?"

"I'm not in your office. I don't have to tell you anything," the teen snarled angrily. He wasn't in the mood to have his psyche examined. Mr. X frowned deeply.

"Leon, you have to-"

"I don't _have _to do anything but get good grades and get the hell out of Raccoon City."

---

Ada sat on the swing set in the park she and Leon had met at, tears streaming down her face in a constant torrent. She couldn't figure out which hurt more; the fact that she'd slapped Leon or what he'd said to her.

Her hand tingled furiously as she gripped the cold chain that kept the swing attached to the metal beams. She knew it wasn't from the cold but from the ferocity she'd put behind the slap. And worst of all, she couldn't get the hurt in his eyes to leave her mind.

"Ada…"

She felt her shoulders tense up as his hands rested on them. The familiar gesture used to offer her comfort but now she just couldn't force herself to lean back into him and look up into his face.

"Please talk to me… I'm just… Ever since Christmas Eve, things have been going downhill for me. I don't know about you but… I'm sorry I treated you like that in the hospital," Leon said softly. He released her shoulders and started to walk past her. But she stood up, brushing the tears from her eyes with her left hand as she reached out and grabbed his wrist with her right.

"You hate me, don't you?" she asked as he turned to look at her. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again as he shook his head. "You should…"

"Why? Because you slapped me? You know how many times I've been slapped? At least I was on painkillers this time," Leon said, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Tears fell down her cheeks as she looked down but he stepped closer and forced her to look up by gently placing his hand under her chin and lifting it up. "I couldn't ever hate you. We've been friends for fourteen years… It's going to take a lot more than this to make me not like you, let alone hate you."

"Do you still love me?" she asked, her green eyes searching his blue ones. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. She looked away from him and stepped away from his hand. "Okay…" she mumbled, before walking away.

She heard him growl something to himself before he called, "Okay, here it is. I love you Ada. I have loved for God knows how long and I doubt anything's going to stop making me love you. Remember when Aiden dared you to kiss me and I was okay with it? I loved you then. And on Christmas Eve, I really wanted to kiss you again after my mom left. And then in the forest, I felt like it was normal for us to be kissing like that. I hate watching you say everything's your fault because _nothing _is your fault. Your brother died because he was a kid who thought he could play God. He didn't know any better, sure. But _you _had _nothing _to do with his death. And Nicholai. You basically saved any future girls from making the same mistake. Everybody found out because of you that he is a psychopath.

"So, yes, I still love you. I love everything about you. And I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. Whether it's to somebody else again or if it's because we're moving to different places, I don't know. I just don't want to lose you…"

She turned to face him, noticing how he looked like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. A tear made its way from her eye and she didn't bother to wipe it away. But Leon walked to her, wiping it away gently as he looked down at her.

"I know I've probably ruined everything we have… I didn't want to… But I'm not going to continue to let you think that Aiden's death was your fault. Or me getting my ass kicked by Nicholai was your fault. Because they weren't. …Now, I have to get back to school… I'm sorry if I've ruined what we had going. I really am," he said softly, gently resting his hand on her cheek. He started to back off but she grabbed a hold of his jacket and pressed her lips to his.

A/N: Wow, Leon had a lot to say… Okay, so I really am sorry for all the super drama. I didn't honestly mean for it to end up like this. But it is a teenage romance… It'll get less dramatic, I promise.


	13. Separate Schools, Same Bed

More Than A Feeling

When they pulled apart, Ada had to force herself not to laugh at the confused look on Leon's face. He looked like a young boy who'd just been given a math problem he couldn't begin to comprehend. But, being the type of friend she was, she didn't laugh. Although she definitely wanted to.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," she finally said, smiling up at him. The shocked expression fell from his face, replaced by humor.

"And those other two times…" he started, looking down at her.

She rolled her eyes, stating, "You started those. I wanted to start one this time."

He smiled but then a somber look fell over his face. She felt her smile fall as well and they simply looked at each other, confused and uneasy. What now? Do they go out on a date or do they act like this third kiss had never occurred?

"What now?" he asked, reaching out and brushing a lock of her raven hair away from her left eye. She smiled at him gratefully. He didn't know how much that had been bothering her.

"I don't know," she admitted. "In movies, the characters would proclaim their everlasting love to each other and kiss again… But…"

"You're really going to Germany?"

"You're really going to New York?"

---

"I'm not going," Ada said furiously, staring at her mother. The green eyed woman stared at her daughter in confusion.

"Why not? I've spoken to Leon's mother. This psychiatrist is supposed to be the best of the best," Andrea tried reasoning. Leon sat back quietly, confused at the sudden argument.

He and Ada had returned to school after a brief discussion about Germany and New York. Since they were indeed going to their separate universities, they'd agreed to stay friends unless they absolutely couldn't stand it anymore. After school, Leon and Ada had decided to go to her house just to spend time with each other. But when they'd walked through the door, Ada's mother had told the young teen that she was going to a psychiatrist. Leon's psychiatrist.

"Mom, I'm not going," Ada tried again.

"Leon," Andrea started. The blond boy's eyes widened and he looked in-between the woman and her daughter. Either he sided with Ada and Andrea brought Ada's father into the situation, or he sided with Andrea and lost his best friend's trust. "Please tell Ada that Mr. X knows what he's doing."

"Well, yeah," he started. Ada gave him a hurt look. "But she doesn't need a psychiatrist. She never has before. I mean…what are you sending her to him for?"

"Family problems," Li said suddenly, stepping into the conversation. "We want her to come clean about Aiden with Mr. X."

Leon froze, remembering what he'd told the huge man about Aiden. "What if…he already knows the truth?" Leon asked nervously.

"A fabricated truth but not the real truth," Li growled bitterly, staring Leon down. But the teen, who'd watched his best friend go through so much hell in her life, wasn't about to back down to the angry father. Not this time. He was sick of watching Ada get stepped on by her family so he was going to step up for her.

"No, actually it's not a fabricated truth. It's the truth about Aiden, from the perspective of those who actually _saw _what happened to him," Leon said, fury building. The older man gave Leon a deadly look but the teen didn't back down. At 5 feet 10 inches, Leon was an inch taller than Ada's father and he was starting to use it against the man.

"Leon," Andrea started. "You agreed…"

"You're right, I did. But I also got sick and tired of hiding it. …Wait, how can you get pissed at me? You want Ada to do the same thing I did. Wouldn't it be smarter if I told him? I'd have no reason to lie to my psychiatrist," he snarled. Ada suddenly grabbed his arm and he noticed her father's fists clenched furiously.

"Let's go, Leon," Ada said softly. He nodded and they walked out of the house. As they walked, Leon heard Ada whisper, "What else is going to go wrong?"

_God knows, Red…_

---

"I finally get to meet you," Mr. X said happily as Ada sat on the couch with Leon. She knew they looked uncomfortable but the man's happiness made her smile weakly. "He does talk about you enough, after all."

"I'm sitting right here," Leon tired. Ada elbowed him in the ribs playfully, smiling at him.

"Nobody cares, Blue. Just shush and be pretty," she ordered. He shot her a look and she smiled. "Yes, I did just tell you to be pretty. It's that hair, man. It's just so pretty." The young man lowered his head, his face burning at her statement.

"Blue?" Mr. X asked, reminding the duo that he was still there.

"Oh…Um, when we were kids, we had a color that we would only where. For me, it was red. And for him it was blue. I mean, we eventually grew out of it but because of it, we gave each other names based on the colors," Ada explained.

"Interesting," Mr. X said. "Okay, Ada, your parents wanted me to talk to you about Aiden. I-"

"Leon already told you," she said softly. Leon looked over at her. "He told us…earlier… Everything he's told you is probably the truth compared to what I'd tell you."

"Why? Leon said you had a habit of blaming yourself," Mr. X said, looking from her to Leon. She glanced at her friend, who just smiled faintly.

"I don't know," she admitted, letting her gaze return to Mr. X. "I don't know why I always blamed myself. Maybe it was my parents… They always made it seem like it was my fault. But I don't think it was only them… I think it was...guilt?"

"You were asking that… Why? Why are you guilty?" Mr. X asked. "Leon told me that you ended up acting in self-defense against your brother. That's not guilt worthy, Ada."

"No… I know that… I think…I think it's because I never told anybody the truth… About Aiden I mean… Leon and I were the only two who knew he smoked and as his older sister I should've told somebody. I should've stopped him," Ada mumbled. She felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulders and she snuggled against his side, tucking her legs up against her body.

"I see…" Mr. X said softly, looking between the two teens. "Would you have rather your brother hated you for the rest of your life or would you have rather he died, like he did?"

"You think he would've hated me?" Ada asked, giving him a saddened look.

"I'm not certain. I don't know Aiden. But I know a lot of teens who have been turned in by their siblings and they ended up never forgiving said siblings," Mr. X replied. Ada felt sorrow filling her. Would her brother have hated her? Or would he just never know? "So, onto a lighter subject. How are you two?"

Ada gave him a confused look before she remembered Leon's arm around her shoulders. "You told him before me?" she asked, lifting her head to look at her friend.

"Hey, he's the one who made me find out," Leon replied, avoiding looking at her. She sighed and leaned back into his side.

"We agreed not to date… We're going to different…well countries in a somewhat literal sense and…long distance relationships hardly ever work out," Ada tried to explain. But the more she explained, the harder it got to accept that they weren't going to be seeing each other for a long time.

"They do sometimes," Mr. X pointed out.

"We'd just rather not take the chance," Ada said sadly, looking at the huge man. Mr. X smiled a forced smile and looked at Leon, who seemed to be dozing off slightly.

"You two should go home. I'll see you in a week, Leon. And it was nice to meet you, Ada," Mr. X said pleasantly. She offered him a false smile in return. So, maybe the no-dating thing wasn't the best idea.

---

Ada decided she was staying the night at his house. She couldn't stand the idea of going home that night and it wasn't like they hadn't done this kind of thing before. It was routine, really. Leon would sleep on the floor while she slept in his bed and Buddy would curl up at her feet. Ada would make sure to call her grandmother and ask her to feed Mörder and Jeong and then they'd stay up until midnight speaking about random things.

That night, however, as Leon started to lay blankets on the floor, he noticed Ada watching him. He looked over at her.

"You shouldn't sleep on the floor," she said.

"Well, my mom would kill me if I slept on her precious couch and I'm not taking one of my sister's beds and God knows what I'll find in John's old room so… There's really nowhere else," he stated, returning to what he was doing.

"Then you should sleep in your bed," she argued. He looked at her again, though this time he gave her a rather upset look.

"I'd never make you sleep on the floor," he said, shaking his head.

"It's big enough for two people."

He stared at her in disbelief. Ada was well known for not letting people get close enough to hug her, let alone sleep in the same bed as her. And sure, they loved each other, but that didn't mean they should sleep in the same bed.

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"I'm not sleeping in that bed with you," Leon said stiffly.

"Why? Do you think I have germs?" she teased, brushing her black hair from her eyes.

"No, but…"

"It's not like we're doing anything. Just sleeping. In the same bed."

He looked at her, stuck between telling his best friend that he was pretty much too shy to sleep in the bed with her or sleeping in the bed with her and dieing of nervousness. Either way, he was pretty much screwed.

"Okay…" he finally said. She smiled and hopped off the bed.

"You get to sleep next to the wall. Don't think I don't remember how often you move when you sleep," she teased, reminding him of their days as small children sleeping in the very bed they were standing near now.

He laughed and fell onto the bed, shifting closer to the wall. Ada crawled onto it with him, dressed in her typical long sleeve shirt and sweat pants. Leon had decided to sleep in his jeans and T-shit, even with how uncomfortable that would be.

The room was warm enough for them to sleep without blankets so Ada turned of the lamp and snuggled closer to him. "See, nothing's happening," she whispered to him.

Leon sighed and moved his body slightly so he was pretty much face-to-face with her. Giving her a slight grin, he said, "Right. Nothing."

She smiled to him, curled up to his form even more, and closed her eyes. Leon waited until her breathing had slowed down before he closed his eyes, feeling like his heart was about to burst from his ribcage.

A/N: I'm sorry if the chapter seems…off… I'm really tired and I just wanted to get this done…


	14. School psychopath

More Than A Feeling

Waking up to a body pressed to his was a new experience. Leon felt Ada's breath against his chest, slow and steady as she slept. He noticed that her hands rested on his waist and there was very little space between them. His hands, in turn, rested on the small of her back, completely encasing her in his arms. She moved slightly, nuzzling her face into his chest and he closed his eyes, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep.

"Leon! Wake up. You're going to be late for school!" his mother called, making the blond teen pull his eyes away from his friend and instead letting them fall on the clock on his bedside table. It read 7:09. They had exactly seven minutes to get to the school bus before they were too late.

"Ada, wake up," Leon mumbled, pulling himself out of their embrace. She groaned and buried her face into his pillow. "Come on. We're going to be late." That got her up.

"What? What time is it?" she asked, pulling her face from the pillow and looking up at him with bleary eyes.

"Nine after seven," he replied, climbing out of the bed. She made a gasping noise and pulled herself off the bed, going for her clothes. "Thought you were supposed to wake up early," he laughed, grabbing a pair of jeans from his closet.

"That was the first night in years I didn't have nightmares… So, I didn't wake up early," she explained, pulling a T-shit out of her backpack. She kept a backpack at his house so she would have clothes when she stayed over. He did the same, though her parents didn't know that.

He stopped looking for clothes and looked over at the young woman, who looked up at him silently. She looked like she hadn't meant to say what she had said. "Nightmares? They're about Aiden, aren't they?" he asked. She nodded. He sighed sadly and looked away.

"Maybe I should sleep over more often," she teased, causing him to smile again.

---

As Saddler droned on, Ada found herself watching Leon, who was throwing things at Carlos. The two had been going at it for about twenty minutes, exchanging pencils and wads of paper. They had a nasty habit of doing that, instead of paying attention. They were, after all, still teenage boys. Even though Leon could be very mature, that didn't mean he wasn't willing to stoop down to throwing wads of paper at somebody else.

"Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Oliveira, Miss Wong, would you mind paying attention please," Saddler suddenly said, startling the three of them out of their little worlds. Ada looked up at the man, anger building up but then vanishing.

"Sorry, Mr. Saddler," Leon said stiffly, before looking over at Ada and winking. She gave him a half smile in return and looked at the teacher.

"Yeah, I'll stop doing nothing now," she promised. Saddler's eyes narrowed and Carlos snorted quietly. The class started to chuckle at the look on the teacher's face.

"Sarcasm is not appreciated Miss Wong. Whether Spencer views you as a prime student or not, this is my class and you'll obey my rules," Saddler snapped. Several heads turned, confusion on their faces at Saddler's statement.

"I wasn't doing anything, so I'm guessing your rules are talk a lot, especially back to the teacher, and chew gum and text and all kinds of fun stuff. Great class," Ada said coolly. She knew she would be regretting this soon enough but that didn't really mean anything to her. Not to mention, he had no right bringing Spencer into this.

_I don't even want to know how he knows about Spencer…_

Before Saddler could retort, the door to his classroom opened and in walked Principal Irons. The portly man cast Saddler a cold look before looking at Ada and then at Leon. The two friends looked at one another, fear rather distant from either. They were more curious than fearful.

"I need to take Mr. Kennedy and Miss Wong out of class today. Um…and Mr. Oliveira and Mr. Redfield," the man said, his mustache twitching with every move of his upper lip. The four students stood and gathered their stuff. Leon sidled closer to Ada.

"What do you thinks going on?" he whispered, touching her shoulder. She shrugged but she stepped closer to him anyway. The four students, with their backpacks on and looking like they were about to go home, left the classroom. They were hardly out of the door when Ada heard somebody call something.

"Dead men walking!"

---

"As you all know, Nicholai Ginovaef recently returned to our school," Irons started. Ada looked over at Leon, who was sitting reclined in the plush leather chair, and rolled her eyes. He grinned at her in response.

"Actually, he returned at the beginning of the school year. That's hardly what I'd call recent," Chris pointed out bluntly. Irons shot him a dirty look and Chris just shrugged.

"Well, his psychiatrist says he's doing much better but he also says that Nicholai needs to come into contact with the people who sent him into his spiral," Irons continued. Leon felt Ada entwine her fingers with his and he looked at her again to see her silently shaking her head.

"I'm sorry but-" Leon tried.

"I know that's a bit frightening but I can assure you he's calmer than ever before," Irons promised. The door behind them opened and Carlos stood immediately. Leon, Ada, and Chris followed suit, turning to face Nicholai.

His hair, once a rich brown, seemed to have lost all of its color and turned silver, almost like he was an old man. His icy eyes landed on Ada but Leon stepped in front of her, acting as her shield from the very boy who'd caused her sleepless nights. Two others entered behind Nicholai, including Sergei Vladimir.

"I didn't agree to this," Carlos mumbled, apparently remembering how hard it had been to bring the Russian down. And that was three on one too. In fact, if Leon's memory served correct, Ada's kick had done more damage than any of his, Chris, or Carlos' attacks.

"Yeah, don't you have to get our consent before you can do shit like this?" Chris snarled, as furious as the other two boys. Leon remembered how Chris had tried to get close to Ada, not that it really mattered anymore.

The blond boy was the only one who remained silent, since Ada had suddenly stepped up and laid her hand on Leon's shoulder. He looked down at her and their eyes met. "We'll try and talk," she said, though Leon knew it wasn't just to him.

He relaxed and took a step back, making sure Ada stayed within arms reach as she stepped forward to speak to the boy, the school's one and only psychopath.

A/N: Short, I know but I have to run to school now. (Ha, I missed the bus. Oh well.) Anyway, next chapter should be a bit longer.


	15. Don't Fear Death

More Than A Feeling

"Nicholai, nice to see you again," Chris started, looking just as uncomfortable as the other two teenagers. The Russian boy looked over at him, his eyes narrowing faintly before a creepy smile formed on his lips. Leon felt himself step forward, his chest only an inch from Ada's back.

"Chris, right? Never really spoke to you. At least…I don't think I did," Nicholai said, his accent even thicker than ever. Or maybe Leon was imagining things. Both were surely possible.

"Uh, no we didn't really talk," Chris said, picking his words carefully. Ada shifted slightly, her back touching his chest. She looked back at him, shooting him a curious look. He just smiled and shrugged. "We weren't exactly friends," Chris continued.

"Right… Well, I guess I ought to apologize…though I don't know if I did anything to you," Nicholai replied, the creepy smile still on his lips.

"What'd they do to you?" Carlos suddenly growled. "Brainwash you or something?"

A flicker of fury appeared in Nicholai's eyes, making Chris and Leon both tense up immediately. Ada didn't move, however, standing strong as she always did. One thing Leon had always given her, no matter what she feared she stood up to it without a second thought.

"Um, I don't think so," Nicholai remarked, his smile faltering only a little. "Carlos, yeah?"

"Si," Carlos said, startling Leon. He rarely spoke Spanish around teachers anymore, since he'd tried to separate himself from his childhood in South America. In fact, the only times he ever spoke Spanish in front of teachers was when he was either pissed off or extremely scared. Leon wasn't certain which it was at the moment. "You attacked one of my best friends so I attacked you. You should remember that."

"Carlos," Irons hissed. Leon seriously questioned if Nicholai was as mentally steady as they tried to play him off as. "Enough."

"No," Carlos replied furiously. "This psycho attacked Ada, a girl, without a second thought and here you all are trying to get us to play nice with each other."

Leon shook his head, gently reaching up and gripping Ada's forearm. She simply cast him another smile and stepped forward, forcing Leon to release her arm, albeit reluctantly.

Nicholai's eyes snapped up as soon as Ada moved forward and Leon noticed the way Chris and Carlos moved over slightly, protecting her. But the blond teen found himself staying back, feeling oddly distant from Ada. Was she facing her fear or just trying to prove to everybody that she wasn't afraid of the Russian.

"Ada, good to see you," Nicholai said, his accent suddenly not as thick. Carlos shot Leon a look, who immediately took his place behind Ada. She didn't acknowledge her friend's presence however, which made Leon slightly upset.

"Wish I could say the same about you, Nicholai," Ada replied coolly, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. Leon forced himself to resist the urge to reach out and take hold of her hand. "Carlos is right… You do seem brainwashed."

"That would probably have to do with the hours of talking, you know?" Nicholai replied with a shrug. "I'm still pretty much me. Though…I doubt you like that very much, do you Ada?"

Leon couldn't see her but from the look of shock on Chris' face, he guessed Ada was smiling at Nicholai. What was she doing? And why did he feel like Ada shouldn't even be on the same planet as the Russian she was speaking so kindly with.

"Up until you attacked me, sure," Ada replied, causing Carlos to scoff bitterly. Several eye flickered over to Carlos but Leon found himself slowly shaking his head at Ada's statement. What did that mean?

_Why are you acting like she can't talk to Nicholai like this? She's a big girl. And it's not like you two are together. Christ…_

"This was impressive," Irons said, stepping forward. "But you must all get to class now. You're all dismissed."

Before Ada could turn to face him, Leon walked out of Irons office with clenched fists and a bitter taste in his mouth.

---

Ada sat at her piano, trying to understand why Leon had left Irons' office the way he had. She'd seen the cold anger in the way he'd walked and his fists had been clenched as well. She'd looked over to Carlos, who'd shrugged but wouldn't meet her gaze.

_I was trying to make sure Nicholai didn't snap… Why did they act like they hate me? I couldn't just let Nicholai snap on them and kill us all…_

She hit the keys on the piano a little too hard, causing the music to come out too loud and making Ada a little more upset. She calmed her fingers and didn't smash down the keys any longer. But that didn't get rid of the bitter taste in her mouth.

Was Leon upset because she'd treated Nicholai the way she had when they'd dated? Leon was one of the few people to have seen them together when they were dating. And he'd always looked so upset when she and Nicholai had playfully spoken to one another. Because that was their thing, Leon and Ada's thing, not Ada and Nicholai's thing.

_Stop being jealous Leon… I know how you feel. I wouldn't do that to you ._

She sighed and cast a look at the door, hoping that by some odd choice Leon would bust in and apologize for the way he'd acted in Irons' office. But truly, Ada couldn't decide who was at fault. Was it Leon and his anger? Or was it her and her attempts to calm Nicholai?

_Just stick with the easiest one. It's all Nicholai's fault._

---

"You're ditching?" Carlos hissed as Leon shoved his P.E. uniform into the locker. The blond teen shot Carlos a dirty look. "Well, I'm sorry amigo but you _never _ditch. In fact, you've _never _ditched."

"First time for everything right?" Leon scoffed angrily.

"Man, she was probably just trying to keep Nicholai calm. You're overreacting," Carlos continued, trying to calm his friend.

"I don't care if I'm overreacting. I need the day to think. Cover for me Carlos. But so help me if you tell Vladimir that I'm ditching…" Leon started, trailing off to let Carlos' imagination work for him. The Hispanic nodded sadly and looked back at the teacher's office.

"You're clear," Carlos said. Leon nodded at him.

"Thanks man."

"Just…don't run into Nicholai, amigo."

"I'll make sure to try not to."

---

Ada trotted to the P.E. room and made it as the boys were starting to leave for the courts. As they walked past her, she noticed that several of them weren't wearing uniforms but none of them were Leon. Carlos walked out, also not in his uniform, and his eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Where's Leon?" Ada asked, looking the class over again. Carlos shook his head. "What do you mean…? He…ditched?" That was simply unheard of. Leon Kennedy, the good boy of the school, never ditched. "Why?"

"Look, I have to get to class," Carlos started. But Ada grabbed his jacket and jerked him to face her.

"Where did he go Carlos? As upset as he may be with me, I'm still his friend. Tell me," she growled.

---

Leon walked slowly through the parking lot, the gloomy overcast day reflecting his overall mood. He knew he really was overreacting to Ada's attitude towards Nicholai but he couldn't help it. Especially not after waking up in the same bed as her.

The sound of heavy shoes on asphalt caught his attention so he stopped and turned to face the other person. Nicholai. The Russian boy stared at him coldly and held his hand behind his back. Leon didn't want to know what he was hiding.

"Hey there, Kennedy. You don't mind me calling you that, do you? Of course you don't," Nicholai said, his thick accent back again. Leon remembered when the Russian had attacked him. His body still ached from that. And he doubted he could stop the bigger boy as luckily as he had last time.

Leon stepped backwards without meaning to, his eyes focused on Nicholai's. "What do you want Nicholai?"

"I've heard the rumors, you know? Heard them last year too but until that bitch tried to defy me, I didn't believe them."

Leon took a step forward, fury lacing every piece of his body. But Nicholai stopped him by pulling his hand out from behind his back and aiming, not surprisingly, a small Glock at Leon's chest.

"I've already got it figured in my head. I've played insane for a good year or so now and if I kill you, they'll just put me in an asylum. You'll die, I'll be out in a couple years, we'll all be happy. …Well, accept you," Nicholai said stiffly. Leon just stood there, staring at the Russian. "Don't fear death, Kennedy?"

"Not really," Leon said. As soon as the words escaped his lips there was a crack that he knew all too well from his father's police days and an odd feeling in his chest. At first, it was almost like he'd been punched but then an eerie cold filled his entire torso and his knees gave out.

The last thing he heard before the coldness and a sudden darkness completely engulfed him was Ada screaming his name.

A/N: Hate me all you want for me ending it there. Adds drama. …And this kind of shit really does happen here where I live… Sad, isn't it? Also, I'd like to apologize. A good friend asked for me to write Leon as a quarterback on the football team and I never did. I really am sorry... (And you know who you are too.) Maybe I'll be able to add something some other time.


	16. Never Seen So Much Blood

More Than A Feeling

She had never seen so much blood in her life. She'd never been able to walk into a puddle, an actual puddle, of blood before. She'd never seen the asphalt painted red. And she hated seeing that much blood. Especially where it was coming from.

Ada didn't really feel herself run over to Leon. She didn't really feel collapsing to her knees, letting the bone smack into the pavement hard enough to cause a loud cracking noise. She didn't really feel herself grabbing his shoulders and lifting his upper body into her lap, while one arm wrapped around his chest and the other pressed to the bleeding wound. She didn't really feel tears stream from her eyes and she didn't really feel her body giving its spare heat to the cold teen in her arms.

People rushed into the parking lot but at the sight of the raven haired teen cradling her blond friend made most of the crowd cringe and back off. The school's police officers rushed into the parking lot and forced Nicholai to get down on the ground. Ada noticed their mouths moved but she couldn't hear a word that they were shouting. She hoped they put a bullet in the Russian's head.

A hand clapped her shoulder and she looked up to see Carlos. His eyes were wide and filled with horror as he stared at his best friend. The blood surrounding both Leon and Ada seemed to be freezing to the icy asphalt.

"Ada, we have to get him to a hospital," Carlos suddenly said, reminding Ada that her friend needed medical attention. And badly.

"Is he breathing?" a shrill voice cried. Several others joined in.

"Look at all that blood!"

"Jesus, he doesn't look alive…"

"When are the paramedics going to get here?"

"By the time they do, he'll probably be dead."

"Shut the hell up!"

"All of you!" Jill suddenly shouted, her face furious. One of the police officers walked to Ada's side and he gently laid his hand on her arm, the one wrapped around Leon's chest. She looked up at him and with the way he looked, silent sadness in his eyes, Ada didn't want to know what he was about to say.

"Look, we have to get him to the nurse's office, at least. He'll freeze to death and bleed to death out here," the officer warned, his voice soft. Ada shook her head.

"We need to get him to a hospital," Carlos said stiffly.

"Yes, we do. But…the closest ambulance is stuck by traffic problems in central Raccoon," the officer said. "We have to get him some kind of medical attention while we wait."

"We can't move him," Rebecca suddenly said. As the nurse's aide, she knew best about the situation. She walked over to the, separating herself from her boyfriend Billy. But Ada refused to let anybody near Leon. She wasn't going to allow anybody to touch him. So when Rebecca reached out to touch Leon, Ada shot the younger girl a look so emotionless, even Leon would've been shocked.

"Don't," Ada said, her voice void of emotions. Carlos touched Ada's shoulder again. "No," the Eurasian teen said to the Hispanic, who released her shoulder immediately. "I'm not…"

"You don't get the choice," Rebecca snapped suddenly, showing a different side of the timid young girl. "It's either we take him to the nurse or he's going to die."

The squeal of sirens prevented Ada from responding to Rebecca. She looked over her shoulder and saw the most beautiful sight in the world; the red and white ambulance of Raccoon's biggest hospital. The truck came to a stop before it reached the girl who remained huddled over her friend, almost as if she was trying to let Leon absorb her body heat.

Two men climbed out and as they got the stretched, Ada lifted her non-bloodied hand to Leon's neck. His heartbeat was there, steady but slow and faint.

"Stay alive," she whispered, pressing her face to his neck. "Please…"

---

_"You're my best friend ever and we'll be best friends forever and ever and ever, right?" a small Ada asked as she and Leon sat on the old slide in the park. Leon bobbed his head up and down excitedly._

_"Forever and ever and ever and ever," he promised. She grinned excitedly but her face suddenly fell. At six years old she hadn't truly come to a point of true disappointment in her life, at least not that Leon knew of. But the look on her face was similar to the look Leon's older brother had had when his parents fought. "What's wrong, red?"_

_"…My parents don't love me anymore," she said sadly, casting Leon a sorrowful look. He cocked his head in confusion. "They never act like I exist anymore… It's all about Aiden…"_

_"Your little brother? Why? You're much prettier than him," he replied pleasantly. Ada giggled, covering her mouth with her hands._

_"I don't think Mom and Dad base their love off of prettiness, Leon. Besides… Aiden's a boy. Boy's can't be pretty," she said bluntly. He shrugged and smirked._

_"How do you know he's a boy? What if he's really a girl but he's so un-pretty they said he's a boy just to make her feel better. Because boys can't be pretty," Leon tried. Ada giggled again before reaching over and pushing Leon down the slide._

---

She knew that she wouldn't be accompanying her friend on the trip to the hospital. She wasn't family, she wasn't even his girlfriend. She was pretty much screwed over on the matter. Until the police officer walked over to her, gently set his hand on her shoulder, and told her he'd take her in the cruiser.

She sat in the back, as was mandatory, and felt tears spilling down her cheeks. People looking into the cruiser might've thought she was being put in jail. But no, she was just going to the hospital.

The officer stayed quiet the entire time, simply driving, which she was grateful for. She doubted she'd be able to form an intelligent sentence much less speak to the man. All she could think about was Leon, a hole in his chest and his body limp. That wasn't the Leon she knew and loved.

_I should've just asked him to date me… I shouldn't have let this happen... I should've killed Nicholai… I shouldn't have punched Aiden… I should've just told Leon…Told him I love him…_

The cruiser came to a stop suddenly and she waited in the car until the police officer opened the door for her. He stepped back as she climbed out, his eyes on the large building next to them.

"He'll be in the back of the building… Come with me. We'll go to the I.C.U. to wait," the cop said. Ada realized she didn't even know his name. He was a tall, dark skinned man and she vaguely remembered his name started with an M. Michael, Mark, Marvin? One of those.

---

_Ada was crying when Leon found her, holding her knee to her chest. He instantly ran to her side, falling to his knees when he was close enough. Her pant leg was soaked with crimson blood and he gently nudged her hands away. Her knee was torn open._

_"What happened?" Leon asked, looking at Ada with what most adults would call kid-love._

_"Al…Ale… Al…" she stammered, sniffling between every word. Leon frowned. Ale? _

_"Alexia?" he asked. She nodded and pressed her fists to her eyes. "What'd she do? Do I have to kick Alfred again? Because I swear I will. I will, Ada."_

_"She…she pushed me," Ada whimpered finally, letting her hands fall and looking up at Leon. "And I hit my knee on the…the jungle gym," she finished. Leon felt his knuckles grinding into the sand._

_"Come on, we'll go home and Mom will make us some hot chocolate," Leon promised. She nodded and tried to stand. But the blood that had spilled from the wound had dried and the raw area burned with pain as she tried to stretch her leg. Her eyes filled with tears again but Leon instantly said, "Wait. I'll go get something. I'll be back."_

_He ran around the jungle gym to the old wagon that nobody bothered with anymore. Because of mandatory school rules, the wagon was kept rust free and safe and Leon dragged it back around to his friend. The nine year old girl looked at him in shock._

_"Here, I'll help you get in," Leon promised. She nodded and let him wrap his arm around her shoulders and put the other one under her legs, like he'd seen on TV. With strength, assisted by her lightness, Leon lifted the young girl into the wagon and helped her get comfortable._

_"Thank you," Ada said, her eyes happy. Leon simply smiled and shrugged._

---

"What happened?" the familiar voice of Josephine asked. Ada lifted her head from its position on her knees, flinching at the bright hospital lights, and watched as Leon's immediate family walked towards her.

"Ma'am," Marvin, as he'd told Ada his name was, said. The officer was instantly blown off as Leon's mother turned her furious eyes on Ada. But before she could say anything, Lee stepped forward and opened his arms. Ada stood and walked into the man's embrace, pressing herself to the very person she'd viewed as a father for over half of her life.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed into Lee's jacket. The man said something in return but Ada had to apologize. "It was Nicholai. Leon ditched class and Nicholai followed him or something and I got there right as Nicholai started threatening Leon with a gun. I just stood there and watched…. I'm useless."

"No, sweetheart, you're not," Lee promised. Leslie and Jamie crowded in closer to the Eurasian girl, agreeing with their father. Ada wondered if John had been told. "He wouldn't have wanted you hurt anyway and you know that."

Ada shook her head in disagreement but she said no more. Instead, she stayed in the hug, listening to Leon's mother and sisters softly cry for the boy whose life was on the line.

---

_Leon knew he was the only person Ada granted permission to touch her hair. That's why, as they lay on her bed, he gently ran his fingers through her silken hair. Her breathing was slow and regular but he knew she was awake and trying to simply stay calm for more than a few minutes._

_"He's an asshole," Leon said, repeating the simple statement for what had to be the hundredth time. Ada's fingers clenched, which he felt through his shirt. Her hand was under his jacket and had rested on his ribcage until she clenched it. He couldn't help but like the intimate feeling he was getting. But they were friends. Nothing more. He didn't love his friend. Couldn't._

_"I know," she whispered._

_"Biggest asshole this side of the world, at least. He's a bigger asshole than Stalin," Leon continued. Ada laughed faintly._

_"Did you say Stalin because he's Russian?" she asked._

_"Honestly, no… that was the first name that came to mind… Holy hell, they're both Russian," Leon laughed as he connected what Ada had said. _

_"Great job, moron," Ada laughed. And like that, Nicholai was simply a joke. "Next thing you're going to ask if Hitler was a German and if Mussolini was Italian."_

_"Were they?"_

_"Shut up."_

---

Ada sat with her head between her hands, tears sliding from her cheeks. Lee and his daughters sat to her right, while Josephine paced the waiting room over. A tall man suddenly entered the room, looking dead serious and cold. Ada felt herself growing uneasy. They were the only ones in the waiting room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy?" the man asked softly. "I'm Dr. Hamilton… And… Maybe the girls would like to step out."

Ada felt herself shaking her head, whether it was in defiance to what he was ordering or whether it was simply in horror at the way he was speaking, she couldn't tell. Lee motioned for Jaime and Leslie to leave but he let Ada stay. The doctor sucked in a deep breath and Ada watched him coldly and he started to tell them about Leon.

A/N: Hate me again? Sorry. I'm not doing so great. (Sorta in the process of possibly losing a friend. So… Miserable me equals miserable chapters.) Next chapter: Will Leon live? Or will he die?


	17. Punching Bag

More Than A Feeling

_"You're. So. Jealous," Ada said, shoving the mouse into his hands. Leon let the small animal sniff at the gloves he was wearing for the outside weather and wanted to laugh. "Just admit it Leon. You're jealous. And I'm cool."_

_"I'll admit the last part but the first part, tis a lie, I say," Leon replied. Ada rolled her eyes and fell back onto her bed, her shirt riding up and giving him a view of her belly. He forced himself to look away, instead letting his eyes land on the mouse. "And what did you say this _thing's_ name is going to be?"_

_"_His _name is Mörder," Ada replied simply, lifting herself from the bed again. He sighed sadly and looked at the mouse._

_"She'll be making you into a Nazi mouse before you know it," Leon warned, running two fingers over the animal's back. Mörder looked up at him silently._

_"I'll have you know that black mice can't be Nazis. Only white mice with red eyes can be Nazis," she remarked bluntly. _

_"Then what's your excuse? You're a Nazi," Leon questioned, grinning at her sudden lack of humor. _

_"Me? How in the world am I a Nazi, Leon Scott Kennedy?" she snapped, glaring at him. He laughed, almost tilting the chair over._

_"You broke out the middle name. Beware, my little mouse friend, when she does that, then she's getting ready to murder you in your sleep," Leon warned, speaking to the small mammal._

_"That's only what I'd do to you, Kennedy," Ada warned, kicking him in the shin playfully. He shot her a hurt look._

_"Not only do you call me by my last name but you kick me? God, what kind of a friend are you?" he asked, feigning sadness. She grinned._

_"I'm a Nazi apparently. So, there." _

A cold feeling spread through his chest and unfamiliar voices met his ears. He tried to force himself to open his eyes but it felt like invisible fingers were keeping his eyelids shut. He felt like he couldn't breathe, straining to inhale when something touched his face. A mask? Oxygen forced its way down his throat and into his lungs but he still felt like he couldn't breathe.

_"So, when are you two going to get married?" Leon's father asked as he made burritos for the two children. The five year olds looked at one another before Ada grinned._

_"When we grow up! We're going to get married and they're going to play the Blue Danube Waltz as our wedding song!" she said excitedly. _

_"Am I invited?" the big man asked, handing Ada her burrito. She bit into it hungrily as Leon rolled his eyes._

_"Duh! You're my dad. You have to go," the boy said bluntly. His father laughed as he handed the blond his burrito._

_"Is that so? And you feel the same way Ada?" _

_The small girl nodded her head vigorously but refused to speak as she chewed on her mouthful. When she finally swallowed, she said, "Of course you have to go, Mr. Dad! That's how weddings work."_

_"I see. And what about Ms. Mom?" he asked. Ada nodded again.  
"She has to go too because she has to dance with Leon. That's tradi…trad…traditional?"_

_"Very good. Leon, why aren't you as smart as Ada?"_

_The blond looked at his father very simply and stated, "She's a girl. Girl's are smarter than boys."_

"He's not breathing again," a foreign voice suddenly said. He guessed they were speaking about him because a sudden pain splintered the cold and tore through his diaphragm. He tried breathing but his lungs seemed to disagree with him.

_"Do you love me?" Ada asked, looking up at her friend's face. Leon knew that at eight years old, he was supposed to think girls were gross and that they had cooties._

_"Of course I do," he replied simply. He didn't even really have to think about it. "We're getting married and to get married, you have to love the person you're marrying."_

_She giggled and nodded in complete agreement. "Good, because I love you too. Hey, did Leslie ever give you back you shoes?"_

_"No," Leon grumbled bitterly. "She won't give them back. You should kick her in the face for me."_

_"No way! She's evil!" Ada cried, looking at Leon who laughed in response._

"He's stable," another voice said, sounding relieved. He wondered if it was out of fear of him dieing or out of fear of losing their job. He wanted to laugh, he knew Ada would laugh, but the breathing thing still wasn't going so great.

"Good, let's move him to I.C.U."

_They jogged around the track together, wearing jeans and boots and long sleeved shirts. They rarely ran the track in shorts and T-shirts though they were supposed to. Ada was always faster than Leon, though he could offer her a challenge when he wanted to. At the moment, however, they were simply jogging._

_"You think high school's going to be easy?" Ada asked, looking over at him. Two weeks into high school and Leon wasn't worried about the next years they'd be spending there._

_"Probably not but I don't think we're going to have any major problems," he replied, looking back at her. She smiled, her entire face lighting up happily. He felt a smile spread onto his lips. With Aiden in the hospital and her family treating her like she should've been the one dieing, she and Leon had formed a bond so tight very few had the strength to break it._

_"Good. I don't need any more problems right now," she replied. Leon reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. _

_"I'm always here for you and you know that. Don't be afraid to come over, even if you feel like hitting something. I've been told I'm a decent punching bag," he said, feeling her fingers tighten over his._

_"I know Leon. And thanks. I might have to take you up on that punching bag thing soon," Ada replied with a grin._

Leon forced himself to wake up, making his eyes open even though the dull lights in the room made them sting painfully. But he had to wake up. The memories began to flood into his mind and he needed to escape the black abyss of sleep. He looked around. He was in a room with dimmed lights and lots of machinery. Some thin blanket, or sheet, covered his body up until his chest and barely offered any warmth. His chest ached something furious but he ignored it.

His tongue scraped against the back of his teeth, feeling like sandpaper against his gums, and a sudden taste of bitter iron filled his mouth. He wanted to gag but he forced himself to swallow instead.

He remembered Nicholai, remembered the popping of a gun, and remembered a scream. The only time he'd ever heard her scream. Ada. Where was Ada? Was she okay? Had Nicholai gotten to her?

A sudden movement at his side startled him and he looked over to see the most beautiful sight in the world; Ada Wong sleeping in the chair next to his bed.

A/N: Short? Yes. I wanted to give Leon five minutes of fame. …Even though he's already had a solo chapter. Anyway, the next chapter will be on Monday unless I get an urge to write it this weekend. And, in case any of you are wondering, I do love writing the cutesy scenes between him and Ada when they were kids.


	18. Free from the Hospital

More Than A Feeling

It had been two days since Leon's hospitalization, two days since Nicholai had placed a bullet in Leon's left lung, and two days since Ada had been home. Three days if one counted the sleepover but Ada didn't. No, Leon's days in the hospital had become like a new life for the young teenager. Mainly because she was beginning to feel her stress levels build every day and her body grew more and more fatigued. But no matter how many times Leon and his family and the doctors told her to go home and rest, she refused.

She didn't want to leave Leon's side, was the problem. And it wasn't that she was clingy so much. It was more the fear of coming back to the hospital and finding out Leon had died while she was off sleeping. So, two days had gone by and Ada was working off of three hours of broken sleep.

"I'm telling you," Leon said, drawing Ada's attention. "You need to go home. You look like a zombie."

With a weary smile, Ada replied, "I'm going to take that as a compliment, Leon. And how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going home until you're out there with me."

"Ada…" he started but she just shook her head, basically ordering him to shut up before he could continue.

"No," she said simply.

---

_"How are you feeling?" she asked, gently brushing his bangs out of his eyes. He smiled weakly and closed his eyes._

_"Tired… Kinda difficult to breathe," he said softly. He heard her breathe in sharply and his smile fell away. He wasn't quite certain if he wanted to know what was wrong._

_"…I thought it would be smarter if they let me tell you…" she mumbled. "…Leon… Nicholai shot you…in the lung… They managed to save you but…the doctors think that there will be…problems..."_

_"So, the breathing thing is going to stay?" he asked. "I can live with that." Leon was, after all, known widely as an optimistic boy. He always looked on the bright side of things. Even when there wasn't one._

_"…No…breathing problems in the future," she said. He opened his eyes, confused by the sorrow in her voice._

_"And? …What's the problem?"_

_"It's likely…" she started. "They said it's likely you'll never be a cop because of the breathing problem."_

---

Breaking the news to him about his ruined future had been possibly the hardest thing Ada had ever had to do in her life. She remembered the mixture of shock, horror, and, most of all, despair in the typically jolly teen's eyes as he'd looked away from her and instead stared at the ceiling. She'd been petrified that he was going to blame her but then a gently smile found its way onto his lisp and he thanked her for telling him.

"So…What kind of homework have we been getting?" he asked suddenly, breaking her from her thoughts. Ada shrugged and reached over to her backpack. The only times she left his side was for school or to get something to eat.

"Not too much. I think the teachers are in shock. You hear Irons lost his job? The whole thing was set up by Vladimir and Irons just let him do it for a little petty cash. He was corrupt," she mumbled, grabbing a small stack of papers and resting it on the side of Leon's bed. He stared at the papers silently.

"Not much?" he asked incredulously, picking up one sheet. Math, she recognized.

"Not _too _much," she replied, smiling. He rolled his eyes in response and set the papers down.

"And these are all due tomorrow?" he asked. She shook her head and handed him a bottle of water. One of the few things the hospital let her give him.

"No. They're due when you go back to school. Speaking of which, do you know when you're getting out yet?" she asked. He took a long drink of water before he shook his head.

"They won't tell me," he replied. "…Nicholai?"

"No word yet… They'll probably deem him insane even with what you and I already said," she responded. "And he'll spend his life in an asylum instead of a prison."

"You just want him to fry," Leon said, smiling. The smile, though filled with hate towards the Russian boy, was infectious and Ada found herself smiling as well.

"Too bad they don't use the chair anymore," she sighed.

"God you're cold hearted," he stated. "And for some reason I love that about you."

---

Nights were the worst part of his stay in the hospital. Leon hated the way the huge building felt empty but nurses and doctors staying late walked around, making sure their patients were okay. He hated the way the machines attached to him beeped obnoxiously. He hated that sometimes the people around him would moan in pain from whatever was wrong with them. He really hated hospitals.

Leon had taken to sleeping during the day, when Ada was there talking to him and he could focus on her voice instead of the beeping. He enjoyed how he could wake up and Ada would be messing with his hair because she was bored. At least, that was the first day he'd been conscious. The second day she'd had to return to school and he knew that would have to continue. Luckily, the weekend was coming up.

_When do I get to go home?_

The question, simple as it was, hadn't been answered. By anybody. His mother, who'd only visited him once, hadn't said. His father, who gave Ada rides to and from school, had only said that it was the doctor's call. Ada, who looked sorrowful every time he asked, had been unable to give him answers. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever go home.

"Leon?" a soft voice asked. He looked out of the room to see Ada standing in the doorway. Though visiting hours did have a limit, the hospital had been kind enough to let her sleep in the waiting room. He knew she didn't really sleep. "I just… I can't sleep…"

"Are you breaking the rules? Sweet Jesus, the fabric of reality is ripping," he teased as Ada sat in her chair next to his bed. "Today's…Friday?"

"Tonight's Friday night," she said. "Tomorrow is Saturday. Your first Saturday in the hospital."

"I'm so proud of myself… …Okay, I can't take it. Ada, you need to go home. You can't sleep here… You know what, don't go home. Go to my dad's place. He'll be more than willing to let you stay there. Nothing bad is going to happen to me if you try to get some sleep."

A sad smile found its way onto her face but she didn't say anything. And Leon didn't force her to.

---

"So, I told Jamie that she had to feed Buddy but she said that _I _had to feed Buddy but Leon you know I can't feed Buddy because I-"

"Yes, yes," Leon finally groaned, interrupting his older sister. "I get the idea. You don't want to feed Buddy. You want Jamie to feed Buddy. Ada, will you feed Buddy?"

"Of course," Ada promised, smiling at her friend. He rolled his eyes and Leslie scoffed and stormed off. "That's family love right there."

"They used to be worse," a male voice said, interrupting the thoughts.

"John," Ada said, standing to greet Leon's oldest sibling. John had gone off to college to become a lawyer and, two years out of his university, he was a renowned lawyer in the United States. He rarely visited, especially after his mother had attempted to get him to see the psychiatrist Leon dealt with.

The man hugged Ada tightly, treating her like a little sister as he always had. "Wow, you grew up."

"It hasn't really been that long, has it?" she asked. John was as tall as Ada, therefore shorter than his younger brother. It had been something Ada and Leon had always teased him about.

"No but it sure as hell feels like an eternity," John admitted. Ada backed off so the brothers could talk. She caught Leon's eye and he gave her a faint nod, telling her he knew where she was going.

Ada left the room and found herself locked in her thoughts. Leon had taken the bad news surprisingly well. But she'd seen the hidden sadness in his eyes. And she knew he still planned on going to New York and becoming a police officer. Whether or not he was accepted into the NYPD or any other police departments around the country, he was still going to that school.

"Miss Wong, I'm glad I could catch you," Dr. Hamilton said, startling Ada out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the doctor walking towards her. "Leon can go home today, which I know he'll love to hear. He's done an amazing job recuperating and I know he's getting restless. And another thing… The breathing problem… I know he plans on still going to the college…. Can you… Will you warn him that if he does ever feel oddly out of breath, even if he's not done much exercising, that he's to see a doctor immediately?"

"I will," she assured. Secretly, she wondered if Leon would even acknowledge the second part. The first part was just too much good news for him to care about the future.

---

"So, little brother. Getting yourself shot because of a girl," John teased. Leon opened his mouth to retort when Ada ran into the room, a excited smile on her face.

"You can go home," she said.

"When?" Leon asked, feeling his mood light up immediately.

"Today!"

---

First dates were scary. Ada knew that. She'd never truly been on a date. What she and Nicholai had done could hardly be considered a date. Walking the city over was not a date. Not in Ada's mind at least. So, she was petrified.

_First date…ever…_

She looked at herself in the mirror, smiling at the young woman who stared back. Leon's survival and his sudden release from the hospital had her in such a great mood she didn't think she could've turned down her date's offer if she'd wanted to. She was just much too happy.

_Would he like me in my sweater? I mean…everybody always said I looked nice in it…_

Ada grabbed the blood red turtleneck sweater and pulled it on over her ebony blouse. It was a nice blouse but that didn't change Ada's opinion on dressing. She still wore her sweaters.

Ada looked at herself again. Red sweater over black jeans and her nicest set of black high heeled boots. The necklace Leon had given her for Christmas was lying on the sweater, glittering in the lights of her room.

"You look all fancy," a voice said. She looked over, expecting to see her grandmother, but instead saw her mother. The woman smiled at her daughter warmly. "Special occasion?"

"Date, actually," Ada replied, reaching out and grabbing her cell phone. She'd gotten a text message from Leon moments before, that had said: Good luck on your date!

"Really? After the incident with Leon, I'm glad to see you're happy, Ada. Is this boy somebody we know?" she asked. Ada shook her head.

"I don't think you do. Well, I gotta go now."

Quickly hugging her mother, Ada jogged down stairs and out the front door. A black car sat in front of the house with a young man waiting at the passenger's door. Ada grinned at him.

"I can't believe you're actually going through with this," he teased stepping forward and opening his arms.

She rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing, "Shut up Leon and take me on a date."

A/N: I felt like writing another chapter today and this one just interested me… Finally over with the super drama!


	19. Popcorn and Arguments

More Than A Feeling

"Eat the damned popcorn," Leon ordered but Ada was laughing too hard to listen. They were in his father's car again after watching the movie The Unborn. Although it was supposed to be scary, Ada and Leon had been unable to keep straight faces throughout the movie, simply because they were too busy making fun of everything around them. They'd ended up getting kicked out of the theater.

"Why should I?" she finally asked, straightening up in her seat. She'd be doubled over in laughter, trying to muffle the noise with her hands which were covered with her sweater sleeves.

"Because you wanted it!" he replied, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes and reached over, her fingers caught a hold of the lip of the bag of popcorn and she pulled it to her. He turned the key in the ignition and the black Buick growled to life.

"So, this is officially your car?" she asked, popping a few popcorn kernels into her mouth.

As the car started down the street, Leon nodded and said, "Guess they realized they never really gave me anything for my birthday that was amazing."

Ada knew that although to most people he would sound like he was being sarcastic, he was honestly telling the truth. His family was rather shallow when it came to buying things and their children's birthday or Christmas gifts were nothing amazing. But Leon had never really complained. Ada had always made sure he'd get a decent present just because she could.

"And almost losing me kinda made them open up their eyes," he continued. She looked over at him, the humor fading from her eyes. She still saw the blood surrounding him after he'd gotten shot and he knew that. He glanced over at her, casting her a warm smile. "Nope, we're not going to talk about that. So, how's your Nazi mouse?"

"Why are you so anti-German, Kennedy?" she laughed, feeling happier as the humor returned to the two.

"Because you're German," he replied. "And I don't like you."

Ada placed a hand over her heart and pulled an exaggerated look of shock on, along with a false gasp. "And I was under the false pretenses that you loved me!" she whimpered. Leon rolled his eyes as the car came to a stop at a stop light.

"No, Ada, I'm sorry. I don't know who told you _that _ridiculous lie. Whoever it was must've been a moron," he stated soberly.

"He is," Ada promised. Leon shot her a look and she laughed. "What did you expect? I was just playing along!"

"You could've come to my defense," he retorted, guiding the car towards her house. Raccoon City's suburbs were dark compared to the bustling inner life they'd just exited. Ada remembered why she adored living in the outskirts instead of the main city.

The Buick came to a quiet halt and Leon shut the vehicle off, listening as she said, "Now what fun would that be?"

"You're evil incarnate, you know that?" he asked, stepping out of the vehicle before walking around to open her door for her. She smiled at him as she shut the heavy door.

"You told me you loved my cold-hearted attitude," she purred playfully. He grinned down at her before she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for the date handsome. We should do it again sometime."

She trotted off towards her house and as Leon watched her go, he smiled and mumbled, "Yeah, we should."

---

Ada lay in her bed, thinking about everything. The world outside was black, stretching on like an endless abyss until in found the city. The buildings continued to illuminate the night, which had caused Ada and Aiden some difficulty long ago when they'd tried to star gaze.

The raven haired teen rolled over and looked at her mouse, who was running around his cage like he was insane. She smiled and let her thoughts about Aiden fade away. She'd promised herself after Leon had been placed in the hospital that she wouldn't think of any bad times with Aiden.

Instead, Ada found herself thinking about the night she'd just had. The movie had probably been good but neither of them had been able to control their laughter for very long. She'd heard several bitter mummers about annoying teenagers disrupting the movie but even that hadn't shut them up. When the guard had come to escort them, he'd tried to look all scary and big and mean but Ada had just scoffed. Nicholai was scary. Some security guard who couldn't lay his hands on her unless she became violent wasn't.

Somehow, her thoughts turned to another problem. Leon getting shot had reminded Ada how easily the things she loved could be ripped from her. That's why they'd agreed to go on a date, friends or not. She could take losing a friendship. She couldn't take losing the friend himself.

But the problem was the fact that in four and a half months, Leon would be going to New York and she'd be moving to Germany. Sure, college didn't start up right away but they'd decided they were moving right away to get adjusted to their new lives. They hadn't even agreed on how they were going to handle their relationship. It was too new, too foreign for either of them to think about. At least, that's what she believed.

Ada sat up in her bed, letting the blankets bunch around her waist and looked outside again. She wondered if Leon was awake.

---

Leon lay on his back, listening to his mother and his brother argue. Just like the old days, really. The only difference was, in the old days his dad would be there to argue with his mother as well. Then Leslie would join and Jamie would shout at them from upstairs and Leon would never get any sleep.

_And teachers wondered why I had sleeping problems…_

His mother and John disagreed on something that Leon wished they wouldn't argue about. Although his mother had been the one to go behind his back and mail a request to the New York college, she now didn't want her son going off to a school when he couldn't breathe properly. However, John agreed with Leon when he replied that the teenager had every right to do what he wanted. And, as John darkly stated, it wasn't like New York didn't have hospitals. His mother replied that she would feel better if Leon was closer to home. John replied that Leon was eighteen and could make his own decisions.

"You okay over there?" a familiar voice suddenly asked. Leon looked over and saw Ada standing near the doorway, dressed in her typical nightclothes with a sweater on as well. She was looking back the way she'd more than likely come from.

"How did you… John's window?" he asked, sitting up. He was very glad he'd decided to sleep in pants and a T-shirt that night. She nodded and walked over to him, motioning for him to move over.

She crawled into the bed with him, curling her cold form up against his. "I would've called but when I heard your mom shouting I didn't think you were asleep," she whispered. He wrapped his arms around her in response.

"No problem," he promised. They lay together silently for a few more moments until the sound of shattering glass startled them both. Ada didn't move from his embrace but he felt her tense up slightly. Arguing was not something she liked.

"Why don't you just tell your mother what you plan on doing?" Ada asked, looking into his eyes.

With a bitter laugh, Leon replied, "Because it doesn't change her mind. Nothing I say changes her mind."

They fell silent again, listening to the fighting adults until Ada asked, "Are we really going to spend four years apart?"

"We can visit during the summer…" he offered.

"We both hate flying."

"We'll still keep in touch."

"Phones aren't the same as talking to each other, face-to-face."

"Are you just going to keep finding problems with all my ideas?" he laughed. She grinned at him and nodded. "You're evil."

"And you love it."

"True…"

They fell into a third silence but with the way Ada snuggled closer to him, Leon guessed they were actually going to try sleeping. John and his mother's argument had finally died down into a discussion, though Leon was still curious as to what broke. The teen ignored his curiosity and pressed closer to Ada, if that was possible, before closing his eyes and falling to sleep.

A/N: Not much to say other than this one had to be short since I'm running late for school. (Fun!)


	20. Most Definitely

More Than A Feeling

_"Dear Sergei,_

_"Well, here I am. In my new, permanent home, Micawber Asylum: Hospital for the Criminally Insane. It's not as bad as the last place but the people can be rather obnoxious. In fact, I've only met three people I can actually stand to talk to. Oh! I have made a new friend. They said he was a murdering psychopath but I guess I can be considered one too, even if Kennedy didn't die. (The funny thing is, this guy doesn't like Kennedy either. Well, I can't really say that. All I know is he seems interested whenever I speak of Kennedy or Ada.) Anyway, his name is Joe. Get it? Average Joe? Well, he said that. I didn't quite get what he meant…Maybe you will._

_"I must go now. I do hope to see you again soon. Although…this time I won't be so lucky to get a glimpse of the outside world, will I? Oh well. Not much out there anyway. _

_"You're friend, Nicholai."_

As Carlos looked up at the couple, his eyes danced with humor. Ada knew he wanted to say something so she quickly stated, "Good to see Nicholai's making friends with other homicidal maniacs."

Leon nodded, his arm draped around Ada's shoulders. He mumbled, "Everybody needs a friend, Red." Then he looked at Carlos and motioned for the Hispanic boy to speak his mind.

"You guys realize we could get that ass Vladimir fired right?" Carlos asked, looking like he was about to burst. "We can finally end his reign of terror over us here in Raccoon High!"

"Don't you think the principal would want to know how we got into Vladimir's office in the first place?" Ada asked. "While Vladimir was at lunch…"

Carlos' face fell and Leon said, "Look here Ada, you damn well broke the boy's heart." She laughed and shrugged in response. Carlos looked at them and shook his head, which Leon noticed. "What was that all about?"

"I liked you two better before you started dating…" Carlos responded. Ada chucked a book at him.

---

"How are you feeling, Leon?" Rebecca asked as Leon sat down in his chair. A.P. Government was one of his favorite classes of the day. But after returning from his three weeks out of school, he'd begun to hate every class because there was always that person wanting to ask how he was feeling. As if it was their job to take care of him.

"Fine, Rebecca," he replied somberly, before feeling hands grasp his shoulders. They were two thin to be male and the sharp but not long fingernails told him it was Ada.

"He's fine Rebecca. You don't have to play nurse for him every five minutes of the day," the raven haired girl said stiffly. In other words, Ada was telling Rebecca to leave. The younger girl made a bitter noise under her breath before she walked back to her desk near her boyfriend, who stared at the board silently.

"You're so mean," Leon said as Ada walked around to sit on his desk. She perched herself carefully so she could move to her desk when the bell rang.

"How many times do I-?" she started.

"Yes, yes, I love that you're mean and evil and cold-hearted," Leon laughed, looking up at her. She smiled happily. "But I'm still going to say it. That's my right as your boyfriend and as your best friend."

She gave him a sly smirk but before she could respond the bell rang shrilly and she moved away from his desk to sit at her own. The teacher, Mikhail Victor, walked to the board with a steady stride. The once Russian now American man could instill awe in any student with the prideful way he carried himself.

"Hello class. Leon, it's good to have you back," the big man said, his voice only slightly accented. Leon smiled at the man.

"It's good to be back, Mr. Victor," the blond teen replied.

"Ada's been turning in all of your homework so I'm guessing you know where we are at the moment. I don't have to slow anything down for you, do I?"

"No sir. I've got the basics. And I'm certain I can fill in the blanks."

The big man smiled proudly at Leon and turned back to his white board to start writing. Ada placed a small folded paper on Leon's desk. He unfolded it, revealing a message which read: Show-off.

Leon looked at his friend and mouthed 'jealous?' to her, which caused her to role her eyes. She mouthed 'oh yes' back to him in response and he grinned triumphantly. God he loved her.

---

"Do you have to?" Ada asked as Leon parked the black Buick in her driveway. He nodded his head sadly. "You're just trying to avoid me aren't you?"

"Of course. Who would want to spend time with you? I mean, you're way too smart. And way too sexy. Why would I spend my time with you when I can spend my time with a guy like Mr. X?" Leon asked, trying to keep a serious face but unable to stop the smile that formed as Ada burst into laughter.

"Shut up and get out of here before I hurt you," she laughed, climbing out of the car. She waved at him as he backed the car out of the driveway. God she loved him.

---

"Leon, I haven't seen you in some time. I'm guessing that you're doing better?" Mr. X asked, smiling warmly at the teen. Leon nodded his head. Not even his typical bitter feelings towards psychiatrists could bother him that day. Ever since his and Ada's first date, he'd felt happier.

"I am," Leon finally said, gathering up enough sense to realize he ought to speak to the other man. "The breathing thing isn't even noticeable. At least, so far. But right now I'm feeling fine."

"You look really happy. Something happen?" Mr. X asked, writing something on the notepad Leon hardly paid attention to.

"Ada and I are dating," Leon finally said. "And I got a car. And Nicholai is staying in Micawber for the rest of his life."

Mr. X smiled and said, "Seem like things are really looking up for you Leon. Well, this means that I'm no longer needed." Leon frowned and gave the big man a confused look. "I'm a psychiatrist Leon. Once I'm no longer needed to help you with traumas or problems, you no longer need me."

"Oh," Leon said, standing from his seat. "Well, thanks for the help, I guess. I'll…see you around maybe."

Mr. X smiled and bobbed his head once but Leon knew that it was highly unlikely he would ever see the huge man again. Not that Leon had particularly liked the visits to the shrink.

_More time with Ada… Before college…_

---The next day---

"I'm just saying. As a girl's night out!" Jill proclaimed, grabbing Ada's arm as they walked from their seventh periods to the parking lot. The dark haired teen shot her friend a silent look. Ever since Jill and Carlos had stopped dating, Leon had been cold towards Jill, which had progressively made Ada colder towards her.

"I don't like girl's nights out," Ada replied, tugging her arm free. At least that was true. She didn't like spending a night with a bunch of annoying girls who would want to know every tiny bit of information Ada held.

"Oh, come on Ada! All you ever do anymore is hang out with Leon," the brunette said bitterly, resting her hands on her hips. Ada didn't remember Jill ever doing something like that.

"He is my boyfriend. And it's not like I ever went anywhere with you or the others before. Why is it so important all of a sudden?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. Jill frowned and Ada scoffed. "Of course. No, Jill, you can go tell your friends to leave me alone. …When did you start acting like this? When you lost Carlos? Or was it when you realized Chris wasn't going to take you back?"

Ada started to walk away when Jill called, "It's your fault Chris won't take me back."

The black haired girl turned to face Jill and she stated, "That's low. Trying to frame me for your mistakes…"

"No. It's the truth. I asked him. But he said no. Because of you. He harbors some secret hope that you'll go to him when you and Leon don't work out," Jill replied. Ada couldn't help but notice that Jill said when instead of if.

"Do all of you think we won't?" she asked, her heart beat speeding up. Jill looked down, almost shyly and Ada shook her head silently. "I can't believe you. You were supposed to be my friend and you can't even hope for the best for us? Especially after all he's been through!"

"I do hope for the best Ada! I've just seen these relationships crumble too many times for me to think this one's going to be any different," Jill responded. Ada, unable to come up with anything to say, just turned and walked to Leon's car.

---

The ride home was deathly silent and Leon found himself growing uncomfortable. Ada rarely remained silent for this long unless she was upset about something. But looking over at her neutral face, Leon saw no indications that something as indeed wrong.

"Okay, I can't take this. What's wrong, Ada?" he asked, glancing at her again. He kept his eyes on the road when she finally looked at him.

"Nothing," she lied softly. He laughed faintly and shook his head.

"After all this time you still try to lie to me. What's wrong?"

"Everybody thinks our relationship's doomed," Ada finally responded. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed she was looking at him, a silent plea on her face. A plea? Did she want him to disagree with everyone? He did, of course. But didn't she realize that?

"They're jealous," he promised. He noticed that she silently shook her head. "Okay… Why do they think that?"

"I don't know. Jill said it was because of our history together. She said we were doomed to fail like all of the other relationships she's seen that happen to," she simply stated. He felt slight anger building as he realized that Jill, Ada's friend, was actually saying they were doomed.

"Well, I've seen childhood relationships work," he replied. He didn't add that such an example would be his parents. She smiled weakly.

"Your parents? Yeah, great comparison," she teased, though her voice wasn't angry at all.

"Damn you caught me," he said, thumping his fist on the steering wheel. "And here I was hoping I'd outsmarted you for the first time in our lives." He stopped the car in front of Ada's house and he noticed the look she gave the building. She didn't want to go in. "You going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine… Dad realized who I'm dating and he's not that happy," Ada explained. Leon rolled his eyes angrily.

"Even though he was one of the people to say we were going to get married," he laughed bitterly. She smiled in agreement.

"Well, now we can prove all of those people right?" she said, leaning over and giving him a quick kiss. He grinned.

"Most definitely."

A/N: This story is getting close to its finish. Maybe five more chapters… By the way, I don't think I mentioned that there will be a sequel to this. To show Leon and Ada's college years. I don't know why I never mentioned that before…


	21. Staring

More Than A Feeling

A/N: In this chapter, bold font is a text message. (Just thought I should clarify why some stuff is bolded.) Also, if the chapters seem kinda…weak, I guess, they'll get better as the story gets closer to graduation.

As the days passed, Ada found herself fearing the final day of school. The final day, for seniors, meant graduation and awards and finally escaping high school. But for Leon and Ada that meant leaving their birth state and moving far, far away. Ada did not look forward to graduation at all. Not anymore.

"So, you guys going to have a going away party?" Carlos asked as he stuffed papers into his new backpack. Leon had forced him to buy one so he didn't have to continuously give Carlos his homework.

"No," Ada said calmly, placing her folder delicately into her backpack. The old backpack was falling apart but she refused to buy a new one. She and Leon had decided to keep their old backpacks until the things were only strings barely clinging together.

"We don't want that much attention," Leon continued for his friend, throwing a piece of paper into the trashcan. The trio sat in Leon's house and they were trying to clean their backpacks out. But it wasn't really working since Carlos wasn't really cleaning it out.

"Why? We'd want to say good-bye to you two," Carlos said, tossing his single notebook to the ground. Ada watched as Buddy sniffed at it before snuffing it and returning to his chew toy.

"And I want you to shut up but that never happens," Leon replied bitterly. He stopped placing papers in his backpack to cough into his hand. He shook his head bitterly and looked up to see Ada staring at him cautiously. "Can I not cough anymore?"

"That sounded unhealthy," Josephine suddenly said, popping her head into the living room. The blond teen shot Ada a look but the raven haired teen had turned her attention back to her papers so Leon couldn't see her smile. "I'm just saying Leon… Why won't you listen to your doctor?"

"Dr. Hamilton agreed that I needed to continue on with a normal lifestyle, Mom! What do you want me to listen to? Yeah, I get the idea that being a cop will put me in danger, in even more ways now. But you treat New York like it's a third world country when it's quite the opposite!" Leon barked. Ada saw the anger in her boyfriend's eyes and was rather grateful when his mother decided to remain silent.

Ada reached out and grabbed Leon's hand, smiling at him warmly. "New York is where you belong if you think that," she whispered. Carlos threw a paper ball at Buddy, who instantly stood and tackled the Hispanic to the floor.

"I don't care where I am as long as I have a future with you," he replied. If possible, Ada's smile widened.

---

Leon wasn't at all surprised when Chris and Carlos got into the fight.

Leon and Carlos had been walking to autoshop when Chris had stepped in front of them and started telling Carlos off for dating Jill. Leon, who simply wasn't in the mood to listen to the two fight, tried to intervene but the two had gone at each other's throats before he could step forward.

"Unfortunately, we can't let any of you go to class yet until we find out what happened," a teacher warned, holding up his hands to catch the students' attention. Leon rolled his eyes. He doubted anybody cared that they couldn't go to class.

But that did mean Leon was extremely bored. So, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flicked it open. He went through his list of contacts and landed on Ada's name

_It's not like German is that important anyway._

---

"So, I've heard you going to Germany," Ada's foreign language teacher said as he walked past her desk. "I'm glad it's you and not some of the other less adept students," he continued. She smiled at him, though she was somewhat uncertain if he was being serious of if he was just saying it.

As he walked away, Ada pulled her cell phone out from where she'd hidden it under her desk. Leon's message read: Somebody got into a fight on the way to 7th. I'm still not in class. Talk to me.

She quickly questioned him what he wanted to talk about before returning to her worksheet. She and Leon had, like many things, perfected the art of texting during class. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been caught texting.

The phone vibrated against her leg and she smiled slightly as the teacher sat down at his desk. She lifted it slightly and flicked it open.

**I don't know. Something.**

Ada rolled her eyes and replied: **I'm not coming up with a subject. **

She could imagine Leon laughing softly at her statement. This was a familiar game they played. They typically came up with topics together instead of either of them specifically creating one.

**Why should I?**

The girl quickly jotted down quick notes on her paper, smiling at Leon's attitude. One thing she'd always liked about him was his attitude. She found herself accidentally writing the wrong sentence on her paper.

**Leon, you made me write the wrong sentence!**

She wondered if he scoffed at her statement. When they were face-to-face, he would slyly look away and act like he didn't scoff. But she knew he did. All the time. Especially when she wrote what she heard or read instead of what she meant.

**Awesome. What did you write?**

Ada glanced at her writing, questioning whether or not she should tell him. Of course, there was no doubt in her mind that she would tell him eventually but she wondered if she wanted to tell him over text or when she saw him next.

**I wrote that you're hot.**

The teacher looked around the class and Ada noticed him from his slight shift. The teacher's eyes landed on every student for a few seconds but rested on Ada for a very short amount of time. She was, after all, viewed as the good-girl. The one who never did anything wrong.

**Well, I can't disagree with that.**

She wanted to laugh but Ada forced herself to remain calm and instead forced herself to write another sentence in German, a smile forming on her lips. The teacher cast her a look, suddenly, startling her. It wasn't like she'd done anything. The phone was in her pocket still. But then the man's eyes traveled away from Ada and she quickly replied to Leon.

**Neither can I.**

---

"We're almost at the end of the school year!" Claire shouted as she and her follower/boyfriend Steve walked past Leon and Ada. The duo glanced at the younger teens, who looked back at them. "Why aren't you two happy? We only have two more months in this hell!"

"That's not always a good thing," Chris suddenly said, walking up. Leon shot him a look of surprise. He was certain that both Carlos and Chris would be spending their afternoon in the new principal's office.

"Why not?" Steve asked, keeping close to Claire's side. Like most, the young teen had decided that Chris was rather mean and that he'd rather not face his wrath.

"Reasons," Chris said, motioning for Claire to come with him. She waved good-bye to Steve, who waved back before turning and looking at Leon and Ada.

"Why aren't you two happy it's almost over?" he asked. Ada looked at Leon and the blond smirked and shrugged.

"Reasons," he said. He and Ada walked away to the Buick and Ada was shaking her head. She looked at Leon expectantly and he asked, "What? What did I do wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong. What makes you think you did something wrong?" she questioned pleasantly.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" he laughed, opening the passenger's side door for Ada. She smiled at him and shrugged. "Why are you so cruel? See, this is the kind of thing that makes me question whether I should date you or not. Because… Sometimes… I fear for my life when I go to bed at night. God knows if you're going to be nearby, just waiting for the opportune moment to kill me."

"Darn, you've figured out my plan," Ada said, shaking her head sadly. But then her eyes widened and she smiled innocently at him, stammering, "Um, I mean… What ever could you mean, Leon?"

"Right," he laughed.

---

"Ada, you staying for dinner?" Leon's dad called, causing the couple to look up from their work. She thought about it for a moment before she nodded.

"Yeah, I am," she responded. She noticed Leon watching her and she cocked her head to the side playfully. "What're you staring at?"

"Nothing," he promised as a grin formed on his lips. He looked back down at the papers on the bed. She hated math and she knew he did too. That was one of the reasons they always did the math together.

"Nothing? I think you were staring at something," she replied, dropping her pencil on the desk and folding her arms over her chest. She shook her head at him quietly. "Now, what were you staring at?"

"Nothing," he replied again. "Now, I'd like to get this homework done."

She narrowed her eyes and suddenly grabbed his jacket, pulling him somewhat closer. He tried to keep away from her but it was a useless attempt and she forced him forward. "What. Were. You. Staring. At?"

"You," he finally replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her over to him. The sudden shift in weight sent them both toppling. They fell back onto the bed, almost side-by-side and she squirmed to get free of his grasp.

"Let go," she laughed, struggling with all of the strength she had. But Leon had her in a strong grip and she doubted she was going to get free any time soon. So, she finally lay still, resting her head on Leon's shoulders. She doubted the papers had survived their rough-housing.

He moved slightly and kissed her, making her grin against his lips. Unfortunately, they were still in his father's house. "Stop making out and get down here, you two!" Lee called loudly causing the two to split apart as quickly as possible. Ada grinned at Leon, who was just shaking his head in response.


	22. The Blue Danube Waltz

More Than A Feeling

He colored in the circle delicately, making it a nice black-grey color. The last question and he wasn't even certain if the answer was correct or not. That seemed to happen to him often. But Leon sighed softly and set his pencil on the desk. Done. Finished with the last major test of the year. That was one more piece of stress that Leon could officially remove from his shoulders. And one wrong answer wouldn't kill him anyway.

Without a glance to the girl sitting beside him, Leon stood and took his test to Mr. Goldman, who took it silently. The blond teen returned to his desk and relaxed. Now there were only two last things he had to worry about. Graduation and college.

Although Leon acted like he seemed like he was okay with the idea of leaving Raccoon to move to New York, thus leaving Ada and his family, he really wasn't. The truth was the idea of leaving made his stomach ache and his head hurt. He really didn't want to leave. Maybe it was because he'd never left home before. More likely it was because he'd gotten the girl of his dreams only to have to move away from her.

Ada suddenly stood, catching Leon's attention, and walked to the teacher's desk to turn in her test. As she walked back to her desk, she offered Leon a warm smile. He returned the smile immediately. She sat down and leaned back, running her fingers through her short black hair.

After ten minutes of waiting, the bell rang shrilly and the class let out a collective sigh. Ada laughed softly at the class's reaction and stood. Leon joined her and they waited for Carlos to join them before walking through the door.

"It's finally over!" several students cried happily as they exited the class. Alexia, Alfred, and Albert looked at the shouting students with something close to disgust.

"Oh, don't look like that!" Ada playfully ordered the trio. "You're all bad enough as it is without having such looks of disgust!"

The three shot Ada a dirty look but spotted Leon standing next to her and thought better of it. The funny thing about the three blonds was the fact that they were rarely used physical force, since they were all three pretty puny, against other students.

"You're pretty scary when you want to be," Ada pointed out to Leon. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay…more like when you don't want to be. Because when you want to be, you're not really scary at all. I hate to break that horrible truth to you."

"You're me… You know what, I'm not even going to say it," Leon said, looking away from her. She grabbed his hand and smiled up at him innocently.

"What aren't you going to say?" she asked, trying not to laugh. He rolled his eyes and noticed Carlos staring at his feet as he walked.

"You okay man?" the blond teen asked. His friend looked up and nodded but Leon highly doubted he was telling the truth. "No you're not."

"Not really no… Chris and Jill got back together," the other boy finally responded.

"That's harsh Carlos," Ada said softly. The Hispanic shrugged his shoulders and gave them a small smirk.

"I expected it to happen sooner or later, you know? Just… I still can't believe she basically used me," he said, the smirk fading as he spoke.

"She didn't Carlos… And I'm not going to condone what she did but she was confused and you just happened to be there," the black haired teen responded, her eyes sad.

A true grin formed on Carlos' lips and he said, "It's the accent. The ladies love my accent. Ada, you must be weird because you've never really paid me that much attention."

"It's Leon's hair. I love it," Ada said, reaching up to mess with her boyfriend's hair. He shot her a look.

"You're dating me for my hair?" he asked, feigning hurt.

With a grin, Ada replied, "Of course! I thought you knew that!"

"See, for you it's the hair, amigo. For me, it's the accent. God knows what the other guys have going for them," Carlos explained to Leon.

"For Steve, it's that voice," Ada said. "That high-pitched squeak makes…"

By then all three of them were laughing and Ada was unable to continue as she fell into a fit of laughter. When they calmed down, their laughs fading to weak chuckles, Carlos asked, "And for Chris?"

"God knows," Ada replied. "That's something you'd want to ask Jill, thank you."

"I forgot, Leon's the only one for you. Wait… Then why would say that about Steve? Are you not telling us something?"

Ada looked between the two boys before pulling her hand from Leon's, casting them both a smile, and running off to lunch.

---

The two boys found her sitting at their bench, chewing on her salad while reading her novel. She glanced up and offered them a smile as they joined her on the bench. Leon sat next to her and Carlos sat on the other side of Leon, so the blond was sandwiched between his two friends.

"I was wondering if you two were ever going to join me," Ada said after she swallowed her mouthful. She handed Leon the salad that she'd only taken a couple bites out of, noticing that he had nothing to eat.

"Genius here decided to take eighteen minutes trying to pick something to eat before deciding not to eat," Leon explained, picking at the salad.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to not pick at your food?" she asked, grabbing the fork from his hand and spearing a piece of lettuce. She handed the fork back to him and he smiled at her.

"No, she didn't. But thank you for basically feeding me," he replied. She grinned at him.

"Any time," she purred playfully before she noticed that Carlos was dumping his backpacks contents all over the concrete. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find my freakin' pencil," Carlos replied. "I haven't been able to find it all day and it's really beginning to bother me."

"Dude… Check your pocket," Leon said, still picking at his food. Ada shot him a look and the blond speared another piece of lettuce, showing it to her. She smiled at him and turned her attention back to Carlos as the other boy tore his pencil from his pocket.

"How did you know it was there?!"

"It always is."

---

Leon had, for four years now, made sure he got a seat in the front row when Ada was playing in her piano rehearsal. He wasn't certain if it was because he thought it would show her how much he cared for her and her talent or if it was just because he wanted to be close to her as she played. He was leaning towards the second reason, however, because Duvall didn't let his students sit in the general audience. Instead, they had a reserved section in the center of the auditorium so they had a quick path up to the stage. In other words, Leon didn't get to see Ada until she walked onto the stage.

He felt his hands smack together in a less than unenthusiastic clap as Alexia bowed to the audience. Her blonde hair cascaded into her face and he could only imagine that several boys were rather…at attention as they looked down her dress, which was rather low cut.

As the blonde walked from the stage, a raven haired girl that Leon knew all too well replaced her. Ada looked stunning, wearing an ebony dress that was a complete contrast from her pale skin. It was somewhat similar to the dress she'd worn at Christmas, except for the color. Again, a sweater covered the top of her dress, though this was a black one to match the dress.

Leon smiled at his girlfriend as she sat at the piano and from the smile on her face, he liked to think that she was secretly smiling back.

---

Her pinky struck the far key twice, her middle struck the center key once, and her thumb struck the last key twice. She almost imagined the huge grin on Leon's face as she played out their song, their wedding song as it was.

Ada knew that her teacher was probably furious with her choice. Although the Blue Danube Waltz was seen as a classic and a good song, it was by no means a difficult one. It wasn't as difficult as Moonlight Sonata and it wasn't as long as Fur Elise. She knew that her teacher, who'd expected a long and fancy song, was shaking his head in disbelief as his star pupil played the song.

Her foot pressed down on the damper pedal one last time and her left index finger moved over to strike the very last key on the piano. As the song ended, the audience exploded into applause, even though the song was by no means amazing or difficult. It wasn't even half as difficult as Alexia's piece.

_My fame has outshined my talent apparently._

She walked down the ramp and took her seat as Mr. Duvall walked onto the center of the stage. Ada smiled as he thanked the audience and then she, like everyone else, stood to leave. But she stopped and waited for her boyfriend, who jogged towards her and encased her in a warm embrace. An embrace she could never tire of.

"Have I told you recently that I love you?" he asked. She smiled up at him and he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers in the other thing she could never tire of.


	23. Best and Worst

More Than A Feeling

"I hate these kinds of games," Carlos complained as the ten teenagers sat in a small circle. Jill and Chris shot him a look of quiet contempt but Leon nodded in agreement with his friend.

"I don't understand why we had to do this anyway," Leon pointed out bluntly, pressing his back to the hard wood frame of his bed. Ada leaned against his side and the sudden movement nearly sent her toppling but she caught herself before she hit the ground. She shot Leon a dirty look and he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Oh, come on! You guys are all graduating. We'll never be able to see you guys again," Claire pointed out. Steve nodded vigorously in agreement with his girlfriend, making the older teens give him a silent look. "Okay, first game… Hm… What's your favorite way to die? And then what's the way that you're most afraid of? We'll go around the circle. Ashley?"

The blonde cocked her head and looked to the ceiling as she responded, "My favorite way would be… I don't know. Something quick. How about… In my sleep? And for the other… I'm not really certain. Maybe… Something to do with my neck. I accidentally wrapped wire around my neck when I was little and since then I've never really wanted people to touch me there."

"…You wrapped a wire around your neck?" Carlos snorted. Ada shot him a dirty look and Leon forced himself not to laugh at the blonde girl.

"Hey, I was like, three!" she shouted angrily. "Okay… Chris?"

"I don't really have either," he replied. "Pass." Leon frowned at the older teen's attitude. Funny thing was, Leon and Chris sat across from each other and they every now and then shot the other furious looks. They definitely weren't what one could consider friends.

"Um… Yeah, pass," Jill said, shaking her head. Leon knew she had a slight bitter attitude towards death because of her mother's death. Like Chris, and Claire even though the redhead was the one who'd picked the game, Jill had a decent reason not to play the game.

"Well… Let's see… I wouldn't mind getting bit by an extremely poisonous snake," Carlos said.

"You know that's extremely painful, right?" Ada asked. "Most snake venoms, though fast acting, are incredibly painful ways to die. They literally eat you from the inside out."

Carlos, although Leon couldn't really tell in the dark room, must've paled considerably because he said, "Never mind then. Change it around. That's my worst way to die. Um… Favorite… Sleep. Definitely in my sleep."

Eyes landed on Ada, except for Leon's, and the blond teen wondered if she was going to be able to play the game. "Well… Favorite way… I can't really say… But I'd want to be near somebody I love. So… And least favorite…" She paused and Leon felt her shoulders tense slightly. "Cancer."

Leon noticed the others slowly nod their heads, their faces illuminated by the lap that had the blanket over top of it. Then, they looked at Leon. "Pass," he said steadily.

"Oh, come on man!" Steve tried. Leon shot him an icy look.

"Did you get shot recently? No? Didn't think so," Leon snapped. None of them, except Carlos and Ada, knew about Leon's problem. The fact that his future was probably ruined thanks to Nicholai.

_He didn't kill me… But he did one of the worst things to me possible…_

Billy spoke next, stating, "I think I wouldn't mind hanging. I mean, with how heavy I am, there's a likely chance that I'll break my neck so it'll be fast. But…the worst way… I don't know. Maybe… Hm… I can't think of anything. Sorry."

"Um… I think my favorite way would… In my sleep," Rebecca said. "And my worst… Maybe… I don't know. I can't really think. There's so many." Several others, except Leon and Ada, nodded their heads in agreement.

"Okay, my turn," Claire said, seeming all happy.

"You think she has a death fetish?" Ada whispered to Leon, who laughed silently.

"My worst favorite way would be exploding. Think about it! So much gore. And sure, it might be fast, but that's one hell of a way to go. And my favorite, which I know I was supposed to say first, would be… In my sleep. Definitely," Claire said. She looked at Steve.

"Um… My favorite way… In my sleep," he said, causing a couple soft scoffs to escape several of the teens. "And my worst… I don't know. Turning into a monster or something and then dieing. That would suck."

"What's the likely hood of that?" Chris asked, his voice filled with laughter.

"Okay, what's next?" Carlos asked.

"I say… Truth or dare," Ashley tried.

"And I say no," Ada replied, looking over at the younger teen. Ashley seemed to curl into herself.

"Scary stories?" Rebecca asked. Billy nodded in agreement and Carlos mumbled sure. Chris and Jill looked over at Leon and Ada, all four shrugging at the same time. "Awesome! Okay, so, let's see. What kind of stories…?"

"I hate ghost stories. Ghosts are the last things I'd be afraid of," Carlos said. "Now zombies. That's different. Can you guys imagine coming back from the dead? That would suck."

"Not for you, Carlos. You'd be smarter as a zombie since you can't get any stupider," Claire snorted. The Hispanic shot her a look as the others gave a couple slow laughs.

"Ha-ha, funny," Carlos replied, glaring at her. Ada yawned and stretched, her hair brushing against Leon's neck. "Look, we're boring Ada. Find something to tell her."

"I've heard just about every story there is," Ada replied. "I only agreed to it because I was hoping to catch some sleep while you morons all talked." Leon moved slightly, looking at Ada. Somehow she knew he was looking at her and mumbled, "Except for you. You're not a moron."

"Well, that just ruined the whole thing!" Claire snapped, falling backwards. There was an audible thump as the young girl's head struck the floor and she let out an angry groan after a moments pause.

"This was pointless," Leon mumbled, not for the first time. "I don't get why you wanted a sleepover anyway…" he said to Claire. The redhead bolted upright and shot Leon a dirty look.

"Because you guys are all leaving after this! There will never be another chance to have a sleepover or a party or-"

"Until we come back for vacation," Carlos interrupted, causing the other teens to nod. Steve stayed loyal to Claire, however, and didn't move his head. "I mean, everybody's acting like just because we're going out of state means we're going to…disappear. We're not. We'll be home for the holidays."

"Hell no!" Billy laughed. "I'm going to Hawaii for the holidays."

"And where do you expect to get the money?" Jill asked.

"I expect Rebecca here to get out of school early and make us thousands of dollars with that huge brain of hers," Billy said, rubbing his girlfriend's arm. Rebecca blushed a deep scarlet that was visible even in the dim lights of the room.

"She's going to be your-" Claire started but Billy shut her up with a dirty look.

"Don't even say it," he warned.

Leon's attention was pulled from the others to Ada, who was resting against him but from the way she breathed, he was certain she was asleep. He shifted slightly and wrapped his arm around her to move her slightly. He lay her head on his legs, letting her sleep a little more comfortably.

_We all deserve a little sleep… Graduation's two days away… Sweet dreams, Red._

A/N: They're short because I'm trying to draw the story to an end. Two more chapters left. (I'll probably update them this weekend instead of my other story so I can just finish this one.)


	24. Graduation

More Than A Feeling

Throughout the entire graduation, Ada felt distant and separated from her body. She felt like she was in the wrong form, standing amongst the wrong people, at the wrong time. Everything was wrong. And even when Leon gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, she didn't truly feel the loving gesture. Because to Ada, the graduation simply sealed the deal. Sealed the fact that she and Leon wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time.

Ada didn't remember stepping onto the stage to accept her diploma and she didn't remember going the other teenagers at their seats. The only thing she remembered was tossing her cap into the sky as the final sign of leaving Raccoon City High School forever.

"You okay, Ada?" a warm voice asked her, reminding her that she was indeed in the right place and in the right body. She turned to see her boyfriend standing and looking down at her cautiously.

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied, her voice sounding distant and distracted. He looked at her and his eyes told her that he didn't believe her at all. "Okay... I'm not… This is it, Leon. This weekend will be our last together for God knows how long. I won't be able to talk to you or Carlos or anybody for a long time. I don't… I don't want to go to Germany."

"And I don't want to go to New York," Leon pointed out. "But we have to. You have to become Mozart and I have to… Well, I don't know what I have to do." She looked down at her feet, though they were hidden by the long black robes she was wearing. "But… We'll be able to see each other. Even if I have to freakin' walk to Germany, I will be seeing you at least once a year."

Ada felt a smile grow on her lips. There was that attitude she'd always loved. She stepped into his arms, which instantly wrapped around her. Unfortunately, their timing was not the best. Carlos ran up at that moment, looking rather disheveled.

"Hey, we're all going to the Sonic down the street. Come on, you two don't get a choice. You have to come too. Now, let's go," he said, grabbing onto Leon's arm. The blond teen stayed still though.

"What about our parents?" he asked.

"We already told them where we're all going," Carlos explained. Leon looked to Ada, who just smiled at him in response.

"Fine. Fine. But let us change out of these God forsaken robes first."

---

"Here's to everybody and their new high school diplomas!" Chris said, smiling for the first time in what had to be weeks. Leon guessed it was because he realized that now that school was over, Ada would leave and his crush would vanish.

Billy, Rebecca, Carlos, Jill, Ada, Leon, Ashley, Luis, and Ark lifted their drinks to meet Chris', though most of them seemed a little less enthusiastic. Leon looked over at Ada, who was staring at the table blankly. Her emerald eyes were filled with sorrow and Leon felt the urge to pull her away from the others and take her home.

_Two days… We have two more days together… And then… Shit._

"Wow, you two could look a little more enthusiastic," Luis said, staring at the blond and the raven haired teens. Ada shot him a dirty look, one that made most of the male teens at the table squirm uncomfortably.

"Why don't you keep you mouth shut?" Ada asked. "We wouldn't want to catch any of your diseases."

Carlos snorted, ducking his head slightly as several others chuckled lightly. Luis, however, didn't seem to get that Ada was somewhat saying that Luis had STDs, even though STDs weren't transmitted through the air. Ashley patted Luis on the shoulder and shot Ada a dirty look, who simply glared back.

"Okay, let's all be nice," Rebecca said, lifting her hand. "This is the last time we'll all be together. Especially you guys," she said, looking at Leon then Ada then Carlos.

Leon looked at Carlos, who stared back in confusion before realization hit. "Oh yeah! Your mom sent in an application for me. I'm in your school," he said, grinning. Ada smiled halfheartedly and Leon offered his friend a lopsided smile.

"That's awesome, Carlos," Ada said. "Congrats."

Carlos' grin seemed to fade but then the teens surrounding him started clapping him on the back. Leon grabbed Ada's arm and stood from his seat. She stood as well, and together they started for the exit of the restaurant.

They walked out of the building, his hand sliding down her arm to grasp her hand. She looked at him, her eyes still sad. "I know…" he mumbled.

"I regret agreeing to him. I could've gone to New York, Leon. I was going to-"

"Do something you didn't like to do. Trust me, I know you wouldn't have liked to become a lawyer or a doctor or any of those. I don't like this either… But… We have to," he said, looking away from her.

She pressed herself to his side and he felt her head nod weakly. "We'll call each other every day. I'll just have to make sure to fix my phone plan so I don't end up paying eight billion dollars for my phone bills." She laughed, her fingers clenching his tighter. "And I'll make sure to email you all the hell Carlos puts me through." She nodded in agreement. "And… You can try to teach me German, though I won't promise you anything." She laughed again and shook her head.

"I'll try to send you some of the music we learn," she promised. "So you can try it out. …Hey… For old times sake, Leon. Let's go to the Spencer mansion."

---

The old mansion was even older than before, an inch of dust on every piece of furniture. The wood creaked under their boots and the building seemed to groan and cry around them. Ada wondered if it remembered them in some eerie, supernatural way.

"Wow, this place ain't doing so hot," Leon pointed out, looking around. She hadn't released his hand since they'd left Sonic and now she tightened her grip on his hand. She looked around with him, their bodies moving together as they walked. "Did you want to go to the piano?" he asked.

"In a few minutes…" she said, walking over to the stairs. She could almost imagine her brother and Leon laying there after being knocked from the stairs. But then the images disappeared.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice making her look up at him. She smiled at him and nodded.

"I'm fine… Surprisingly. You know, after what happened, I'm surprised that they didn't actually destroy this place. After what happened," she admitted.

"Spencer probably wouldn't let them. We all know how much he loves his houses, even if they are falling apart," he remarked, starting for the stairs. "Hey, you remember those bats we found in here?"

"Yeah," she replied, grinning. "And I remember you having a heart attack because they came out of nowhere. You jumped three feet into the air."

"Did not!" he cried indignantly. "More like two, thank you very much."

She laughed and started up the stairs, dragging him with her. Their fingers remained interlocked and their boots caused huge clouds of dust to rise into the air. When they reached the top, Ada forced herself to breathe from her mouth so she didn't start sneezing. Leon followed her method instantly.

"I… I kinda missed this place," Leon admitted.

"Me too," Ada agreed, turning to look out over the house. "Aiden..."

"Wasn't-"

"I know," she said, turning to him. "I know… I'm just saying. You know… He wouldn't have liked this place anyway. He was too…babied as a kid. He wouldn't have liked it in here."

"Probably not. Come on, let's go play the piano."

---

He used the blanket that covered the piano to gently wipe the keys off, their thick coating of dust turning the gray blanket black-brown. Ada walked around to his side, using the other end of the blanket to wipe of the bench before she sat down. Leon tossed the blanket away and joined her.

"Shall we play?" she purred. He grinned at her and nodded.

"We shall."

In a harmony worked through 14 years of practice, the two played The Blue Danube Waltz. Their hands worked together, making the old piano boom. Dust fell from the top of the piano as it vibrated from the hammers striking the strings.

"I remember this," Leon mumbled, hitting the keys with enough pressure to keep the noise the same volume of Ada's side.

"Me too," she agreed, leaning onto his side and pressing the final keys with him. When the song was over, she remained leaning against him, her raven hair falling onto his shoulder. He leaned back against her.

_I'm going to miss this… So much…_

"We should get going," he mumbled finally. She nodded but neither of them moved. They only had two more days with each other. Then, they would be leaving for months at a time. So, staying in the old house a little longer was not going to hurt anybody.

A/N: And the epilogue approaches. Maybe, if I'm feeling up to it, I'll post the epilogue today. But if not, it will be up tomorrow.


	25. Goodbye

More Than A Feeling

"I'm going to miss you so much," Leon's mother said, hugging him a little too tightly. He would've tried to pull out of her embrace but she was practically in tears and he didn't want to see her cry.

"You're going to kill the poor boy," his father mumbled, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes rather bitter. Leon looked between the two but remained silent. He wasn't about to get into another one of his parent's arguments.

"You know what Lee," she said, pulling away from Leon. The teen heaved out the large breath he'd been holding, looking to his right where Carlos was getting pretty much the same treatment. His family crowded around him and his mother was hugging him as tightly as Leon's mother had been hugging Leon.

His parents started to argue and Leon turned his attention to the airport. Where was she? Scanning the crowd with a steady eye, Leon wondered if she'd backed out. If she was refusing to go to Germany. But then two arms wrapped around his neck and a familiar voice purred next to his ear.

"Parents didn't want to drive me so I had to ask my grandma," she explained, releasing him so he could turn to face her. He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to his chest, a grin forming on his lips.

"She's a crazy driver," he pointed out as she nuzzled his neck.

"Yeah… You didn't think I was backing out did you?" she asked, pulling away from him to look at his face. His grin turned into a warm smile.

"No," he promised. She rolled her eyes and punched him in the chest playfully. He backed off, raising his hands in defense when a female voice echoed through the terminal that all passengers boarding the plane to Germany needed to get on it. He looked at Ada and he felt his heart begin to pound. Ada looked back up at him, her pale eyes filling with tears.

Out of nowhere, Carlos hugged the young woman, mumbling, "We're going to miss you so much." She looked shocked for a second, her eyes finding Leon's. He grinned at her.

"Carlos, if you keep hugging me I'll punch you," Ada laughed, finally returning the hug. After a few seconds, they split apart and Carlos shrugged.

"You didn't punch me," he stated, smirking triumphantly.

"Don't try me," she warned. Carlos backed away, his smirk fading, and Ada turned back to Leon. He was shaking his head silently. She stepped into his arms and hugged him again. "Anyway… I'm going to miss you Blue," she mumbled. She buried her face into his shirt so nobody could see her cry but Leon could feel the slight tremors in her shoulders.

"Do I have to say anything?" Leon laughed, hugging her tightly. An unfamiliar stinging appeared in his eyes, threatening him with tears. But, like his father had told him through the years, he wouldn't cry. At least, not in front of the people in the airport.

"No, but I'd feel better if you did," she mumbled.

"I love you, Ada," he breathed. "So much. And I swear, any German guys hit on you I'll break their arms."

She laughed weakly against his chest and mumbled, "I love you too, Leon. And if any New York girls try to touch you I'll break them."

"Like…in half?" he asked. She nodded. "Awesome." The warning rang through the airport again and the two separated. Ada wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater and looked up at him, her green eyes clear and steady. Their eyes met and Leon might've kissed her good-bye but the warning gave Ada about ten minutes to get to her plane.

"I'll see you around, handsome," she said softly. Leon nodded and gave her one last quick hug before she turned and walked to the area where the plane to Germany was boarding. The blond teen watched as she vanished into the crowd and his fists clenched at his sides. He would not cry. Suddenly, Leon felt a hand grab his shoulder and he had a feeling it was his father.

"You'll be seeing each other soon, son. Before you know it," Lee promised. Leon nodded sadly, the stinging feeling finally going away, and turned to his father.

"I hope so, Dad," he admitted before walking off to join Carlos, who was standing at the huge window that overlooked the airplanes.

_Because it was hard enough loving her but not having her… Now I have her but I can't see her…_

He and Carlos stood together and watched Ada's plane as it started away. Leon watched as the big blue and white vehicle took off, building speed until it lifted from the ground and into the blue skies. He knew Ada hated flying as much as he did and he wanted to be with her, to be there and comfort her. But he had to simply watch until Carlos grabbed his shoulder, reminding him that they too were leaving home.

"We have to go, amigo," he said softly. Leon nodded and they headed off for their airplane, waving good-bye to their family one last time and walking away to a new life.

A/N: I always hate my endings… Sorry if the ending sucked… And that it was so short… But the sequel will be started up soon. Anyway, I'd like to thank all of my lovely readers. I'd list you guys but there's so many of you this A/N would be longer than the chapter itself. All of you are awesome and I thank you all for the great reviews!


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